The specialisation of maritime traffic: taxonomy and Italian ports geography

The paper focuses firstly on the recent evolutions of global maritime traffic and its repercussions on port functions. Subsequently, the main characteristics of modern port functions are described, highlighting their peculiarities and evaluating their effects on port facilities. Considering the analysis of seaport functions, this paper investigates on the literature concerning ports classification with the aim of proposing a taxonomy of their specialisation. The case study is the Italian peninsula, whose port specialisation is analysed (during the period 2012-2022) and the resulting geography is outlined.