Urban logistics and sustainable optimization of goods delivery in urban areas: Study of challenges and innovative solutions

Abstract

In recent years, urban logistics has attracted increasing attention from researchers. Especially researchers working on last-mile logistics, which is considered to be the most polluting, least optimal and most costly pivot in supply chain management, accounting for around 1/4 of the total cost of the supply chain. Sustainable optimization of this yoke depends on congestion, customer settlement and delivery times. The negative externalities associated with urban logistics generally include: noise, greenhouse gases and air pollution. This is why we need to analyse the last kilometer more closely to ensure a sustainable city.

Add to this the rapid urbanization of cities and the growing expectations of customers in terms of service, and research institutes on urban delivery have become rather fragmented. The aim of our article is to identify the main players and issues in urban logistics, to demonstrate the major challenges and to identify possible avenues for improvement. The challenges linked to urban delivery mentioned in the article have been classified into 3 categories: infrastructure, partnerships between players and technology.

Similarly, the proposed avenues for improvement in terms of innovation have sustainable development at their core: social, economic and environmental, we have set out simply and clearly with the aim of establishing sustainable optimization of urban delivery.

Finally, we will enable researchers, practitioners and experts to gain a better understanding of last-mile logistics as a field and to derive logistics optimization models from it, with the aim of building the urban logistics of tomorrow.

Keywords : Urban logistics; sustainable optimisation; innovative solutions.

Classification JEL : O18, Q01, Q51, R40

Paper type: Theoretical paper