Page 36 - Mellinato, Giulio, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2022. Complex Gateways. Labour and Urban History of Maritime Port Cities: The Northern Adriaticin a Comparative Perspective. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 36
plex Gateways
deeply linked from an economic point of view, for a long time the port
and the city had developed independently of each other. With the traf-
fic expansion between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, triggered
by the creation of the Portofranco – the Free Trade Area, first established
for grains in 1590 and extended to include all kinds of goods in 1623 –
more and more space within the city walls was taken up by the growing
demand for storage areas. For example, in the 1720s, ten new neighbour-
hoods were built from scratch in an area of 13,000 square meters previ-
ously occupied by communal ovens to store cargoes kept in the free trade
area (Piccinno 2006, 773–94). However, the new Free Port in Genoa, un-
like the one in Livorno, for example, failed to trigger any significant pop-
ulation increase in the city. Actually, this measure was designed to in-
crease the volume of incoming goods, attracted by customs duties due
only when the goods would be sold again, rather than by real demograph-
ic policies aimed at encouraging stable immigration. Indeed, the Republic
of Genoa never implemented any specific policies to attract foreigners,
except in some unique circumstances, such as after the 1656–57 plague.
Free Port measures, essentially aimed at attracting ships, would also fol-
low the same approach (Massa Piergiovanni 1995, 44). This does not de-
tract from Genoa being a cosmopolitan city, open to foreigners and tol-
erant towards religious minorities. It was thus the destination of mostly
temporary or seasonal migration flows, closely linked to traffic trends
and functional to the needs of port operations.
The role of the Genoese port in the European maritime trade
network
In order to assess the importance and role of a port within Europe’s vast
and dense merchant shipping network, six key competitive factors must
be taken into account in order to determine the type and intensity of a
port’s traffic. These factors are: location, hinterland, density of connec-
tions with other ports, political/institutional context, degree of open-
ness to foreigners, and efficiency in the management and settlement of
commercial disputes (Blockmans, Krom, and Wubs-Mrozewicz 2017, 1).
The first two elements are obviously linked to the very geography of
the region where the port is located. Apart from determining whether a
port is strategically positioned with respect to the main traffic routes, the
following conditions must be checked: Is it a natural harbour? Are appro-
priate infrastructures needed to protect the quays? Is it located along the
36
deeply linked from an economic point of view, for a long time the port
and the city had developed independently of each other. With the traf-
fic expansion between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, triggered
by the creation of the Portofranco – the Free Trade Area, first established
for grains in 1590 and extended to include all kinds of goods in 1623 –
more and more space within the city walls was taken up by the growing
demand for storage areas. For example, in the 1720s, ten new neighbour-
hoods were built from scratch in an area of 13,000 square meters previ-
ously occupied by communal ovens to store cargoes kept in the free trade
area (Piccinno 2006, 773–94). However, the new Free Port in Genoa, un-
like the one in Livorno, for example, failed to trigger any significant pop-
ulation increase in the city. Actually, this measure was designed to in-
crease the volume of incoming goods, attracted by customs duties due
only when the goods would be sold again, rather than by real demograph-
ic policies aimed at encouraging stable immigration. Indeed, the Republic
of Genoa never implemented any specific policies to attract foreigners,
except in some unique circumstances, such as after the 1656–57 plague.
Free Port measures, essentially aimed at attracting ships, would also fol-
low the same approach (Massa Piergiovanni 1995, 44). This does not de-
tract from Genoa being a cosmopolitan city, open to foreigners and tol-
erant towards religious minorities. It was thus the destination of mostly
temporary or seasonal migration flows, closely linked to traffic trends
and functional to the needs of port operations.
The role of the Genoese port in the European maritime trade
network
In order to assess the importance and role of a port within Europe’s vast
and dense merchant shipping network, six key competitive factors must
be taken into account in order to determine the type and intensity of a
port’s traffic. These factors are: location, hinterland, density of connec-
tions with other ports, political/institutional context, degree of open-
ness to foreigners, and efficiency in the management and settlement of
commercial disputes (Blockmans, Krom, and Wubs-Mrozewicz 2017, 1).
The first two elements are obviously linked to the very geography of
the region where the port is located. Apart from determining whether a
port is strategically positioned with respect to the main traffic routes, the
following conditions must be checked: Is it a natural harbour? Are appro-
priate infrastructures needed to protect the quays? Is it located along the
36
