A unified typology of urban logistics spaces as interfaces for freight transport

ABSTRACT

Performant planning and integration of Urban Logistics Spaces (ULS) in logistics networks are key to optimising the circulation of goods in cities. During the last three decades, several documents on ULS have been published, most of them proposing different methodologies for the design and location of Urban Distribution Centres (UDC). Until now, there is no international consensus on the definitions of ULS nor any apparent uniform classification. In this paper, a systematic literature review on ULS is presented. The objective is to identify their characteristics, criteria, and particularities to propose a unified taxonomy. By searching the papers from 1990 to 2019, a total of 216 publications were selected and classified. This review finds predominant orientation towards UDCs, considering high rotation storage, with specialised ULS being less studied. A general typology of ULS is proposed, adaptive to any urban context. Lines for future research are proposed to help both practitioners and scholars to provide insights into all types of ULS.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban logistics spaces (ULS)
• general-standard typology
• freight transport
• systematic literature review (SLR)

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by doctoral research grant INGPhD-11-2019 awarded by the School of Engineering at Universidad de La Sabana, and by an Eiffel Excellence Scholarship from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs awarded to the first author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen Meza-Peralta

Karen Meza-Peralta is a researcher in Urban Logistics since 2013. She is currently a PhD student in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the School of Engineering of Universidad de La Sabana, Chia, Colombia, and grantee of a ‘Carlos Jordana’ doctoral scholarship. She is also part of the Logistics Systems Research Group. In the present year (2020) she obtained the Eiffel scholarship, awarded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs to carry out doctoral research on location of Urban Logistics Spaces (ELU) at the Rochelle Business School, France. She also worked as a Social Outreach Analyst in the School of Engineering at Universidad Libre Barranquilla, a was part of the Business Development Research Group (GIDE) investigating about Sustainable Urban Logistics issues. Her research interests focus on the study of urban freight logistics, considering public policies, costs, social impact, and operation.

Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu

Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu is Full Professor in Supply Chain Management at Excelia Group La Rochelle Business School, department on Supply Chain, Purchasing and Project Management since April 2020. Previously, he had different positions at French national institutions like Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. He obtained his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering and Urban Planning in 2003 at INSA Lyon (France) and a Ph.D. in Computer and Systems Sciences-Operations Research in 2008 at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and a French Habilitation to Direct Researches (HDR) in Economic Sciences in 2016 at Université Paris Est. His research interests include urban logistics planning and management, freight demand modelling, scenario assessment, collaborative logistics processes, action-research for decision support, vehicle routing optimisation, sustainable supply chain management, territorial resilience and humanitarian logistics. He is author of more of 50 papers in peer reviewed journals and more than 100 communication in scientific conference. He is also author of 2 monographic books and co-editor of 3 collaborative works, as well as more than 10 special issues of peer reviewed journals, mainly on the field of urban logistics decision support and assessment, and data-driven logistics planning.

Jairo R. Montoya-Torres

Jairo R. Montoya-Torres is a Full Professor and Director of the Ph.D. program in Logistics & Supply Chain Management at Universidad de La Sabana, School of Engineering, in Chia, Colombia. He holds a Ph.D. (2005) from Mines Saint Etienne, France, and the French Habilitation for Research Direction (HDR) in Logistics and Operational Research (2011) from Université Claude Bernard and Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France. He is author of 50+ journal research papers, editor of one contributed book and author of two monographic books. His research focuses on quantitative modelling for the resolution of complex, realistic decision-making problems in the areas of reverse and sustainable logistics, supply chain management, urban logistics, and scheduling in manufacturing and services. His webpage is https://jrmontoya.wordpress.com.

Ali Khodadad-Saryazdi

Ali Khodadad-Saryazdi is an Assistant Professor at the French engineering School of Mines in Saint-Etienne (EMSE - Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne), Department of Industrial Engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. in Logistics Management from Aix-Marseille University (CRET-LOG laboratory). Previously, he worked as a researcher at the University of Le Havre Normandie and lecturer at the University of Perpignan. He has conducted his research activities in the seaport and healthcare sectors. His research interests involve intermodal transport services, rail freight transport, process innovation, digitalisation, and stakeholder perception in the development of sustainable logistics systems.