Urban Distribution Mode Selection under Low Carbon Economy—A Case Study of Guangzhou City

A Multi-commodity Network Flow Model for Sustainable Performance Evaluation in City Logistics: Application to the Distribution of Multi-tenant Buildings in Tokyo

The distribution of goods in crowded city centers is a major challenge. In this paper, we propose a methodology for evaluating the performance of a parcel distribution network in city logistics. This methodology encompasses the main entities of a two-tier distribution system made up of carriers, huge shopping centers (multi-tenant buildings) and intermediate depots (urban consolidation centers), as well as the parcel flows between them. This methodology aims to optimize the transport flows (distance traveled) of a given distribution network while also quantifying the impact in terms of sustainable development by measuring gas emissions. Two different states of the network with different connectivity degrees are evaluated and compared: the current state of the network as well as its future state. The transport network modeling is based on a network flow, which is expressed in linear programming and implemented with an optimization solver. The validation of this methodology is based on the parcel distribution of the Multi-tenant Buildings of the city of Tokyo. The findings are that the network with greater connectivity between the entities brings significant traveled distance reduction as well as a reduction of emissions of CO2. Another finding is that the grouping of the parcels (i.e., pooling) brings a reduction of the distance traveled compared to the transport organization without grouping and contributes to a reduction in the number of trucks.

Optimizing Urban Distribution Routes for Perishable Foods Considering Carbon Emission Reduction

The increasing demand for urban distribution increases the number of transportation vehicles which intensifies the congestion of urban traffic and leads to a lot of carbon emissions. This paper focuses on carbon emission reduction in urban distribution, taking perishable foods as the object. It carries out optimization analysis of urban distribution routes to explore the impact of low carbon policy on urban distribution routes planning. On the basis of analysis of the cost components and corresponding constraints of urban distribution, two optimization models of urban distribution routes with and without carbon emissions cost are constructed. Fuel quantity related to cost and carbon emissions in the model is calculated based on traffic speed, vehicle fuel quantity and passable time period of distribution. Then an improved algorithm which combines genetic algorithm and tabu search algorithm is designed to solve models. Moreover, an analysis of the influence of carbon tax price is also carried out. It is concluded that in the process of urban distribution based on the actual network information, path optimization considering the low carbon factor can effectively reduce the distribution process of CO2, and reduce the total cost of the enterprise and society, thus achieving greater social benefits at a lower cost. In addition, the government can encourage low-carbon distribution by rationally adjusting the price of carbon tax to achieve a higher social benefit.

A Scientometrics Review on City Logistics Literature: Research Trends, Advanced Theory and Practice

The contradiction between the contribution of city logistics (CL) to sustainable urban development and its negative externalities is increasingly prominent. Policy supervision measures and the green logistics initiative are also in conflict with the management goal of logistics enterprises. Innovative solutions for CL have attracted increasing research attention worldwide. However, the description of the global research network in the field of CL, research trends, and the discussion of advanced theories and practices have not been systematically reviewed so far. Especially in the past three years, there has been an explosive growth of relevant literature. In this paper, the method of combining scientometric analysis and thematic discussion was adopted to systematically review 513 important works in the literature from 1993 to 2018, aiming to provide a holistic understanding of the status in quo, trends and gaps of CL research, and to further analyze prominent problems. The study has made statistical analyses of the publication year profile, journal allocation and research methods of the included literature, and constructed four kinds of visualized bibliographic information timeline maps for the authorship network, international collaboration network, keywords co-occurrence network and research topic clustering. Then, the three themes summarized by clustering are discussed, mainly focusing on CL strategies and policy, green supply chain management, planning methods, and advanced concepts and practices. Finally, the research gaps framework and agenda were reported. This study contributes to summarizing the research and development of city logistics on the whole, and can also serve as an explorative manual to support sustainable urban freight activities and innovative research.

Sustainable Distribution Organization Based on the Supply–Demand Coordination in Large Chinese Cities

In large Chinese cities, inefficient logistics organization, a rapid increase in freight demand, and the spreading of city logistics space have jointly contributed to the urban problems related to goods movement, such as spatial conflicts, traffic congestion, and air pollution. To address these problems and improve urban sustainability, we proposed a new spatial organization model of supply–demand coordination. We used the data from the Third China Economic Census and online point-of-interest (POI) for China’s four direct-controlled municipalities and 13 sub-provincial cities. We found that: (1) the freight supply and demand in China’s large cities are both spatially decentralized and clustered. However, there is a significant spatial mismatch between freight supply and demand in most of the studied cities. (2) The 17 studied cities can be divided into three types—highly unbalanced, unbalanced, and balanced—in light of the spatial mismatch between freight supply and demand. (3) The capacities of road surface and logistics nodes spatially differ. The supply capacity of the road systems in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou can only accommodate 18.4%, 35.5%, and 32.2% of the demand, respectively, while the supply capacity of the logistics nodes is more than twice that of the actual demand in these cities. Based on the findings, this paper proposed a differentiated method of demand management in different areas of the cities. To achieve the goals of low-carbon and sustainable development in logistics distribution, policy makers may consider planning urban freight activities along metro lines and intercity rail lines. Thus, this paper will provide a new perspective for understanding the urban freight distribution and management in large Chinese cities.