Urban Freight in Developing Cities
Relevance of freight in urban transportation
Development of new models for low and middle income countries
Problems induced by urban freight traffic
Roadspace occupation
Green House Gas (GHG) and particle matter (PM) emissions
Noise emissions
Traffic noise has severe impacts on health and overall quality of life. It may lead to stress and increased blood pressure. In the medium and long term, the reduction of traffic noise in the vicinity of residential areas is likely to become a focus in all regions.
Impairment of road safety
Damage to road infrastructure
Congestion/delays
Negative impacts on economic competitiveness and urban development
A functioning city goods distribution and transport system is a major precondition for sustained economic development and thus, for poverty reduction. If a reliable and efficient supply of goods to inner city retail outlets cannot be established and ensured, commercial activity might shift to more easily accessible locations.
A review of proven city logistics concepts
Prior to discussing possible measure to improve the efficiency of city logistics systems for developing cities, it is helpful to quickly review the past development of the sector and illustrate some logistical concepts which have proven to be economically viable and sustainable. Usually they have developed organically out of private sector initiative.
Farmer direct selling
Organised street markets
Street markets are a common appearance in most cities, and may take place daily, weekly or biweekly. Sometimes these markets are specialised, e.g.
Wholesale and morning markets for Perishables
Delivery of building materials
In rapidly growing urban agglomerations, up to 30 % of the transported goods tonnage is building materials and construction equipment. In congested metropolitan areas and commercial inner city districts, the logistical bottleneck is the off-loading operation at the construction site. Sometimes, no off road parking is available at all, space is always scarce and if not organised correctly, the off-loading operation produces long vehicle queues.
Development of the “third account” transport sector
Proprietary logistics centres
Conclusions
Further Information
Further and more detailed information can be found on the homepage of the Sustainable Urban Transport Project. The Sustainable Urban Transport Project aims to help developing world cities achieve their sustainable transport goals, through the dissemination of information about international experience, policy advice, training and capacity building.
References
Bernhard O. Herzog 2010, Urban Freight in developing cities
