Polar gateways: approaches, issues and review

The notion of a polar gateway has been increasingly adopted in polar social science, especially with respect to the role of tourism. The concept has usually been applied with respect to cities and ports that provide access to polar regions both for tourists and for the flow of resources. The paper provides a review and discussion of some of the main approaches used in conceptualising gateways in a polar context. In examining the concept of a gateway, the paper draws on the historically significant role of economic and transport geography literature as a means of better understanding the importance of polar hubs and entrepôts. A review of some of the different usages of the gateway concept in polar literature is provided along with examples of the places referred to and context. The use of the concept raises significant issues of polar places and linkages to wider networks. It is concluded that a more empirically based approach to polar hubs would provide better categorisation and understanding of supposed polar gateways, including with respect to place competition and positionality in networks.