Roles of networks in the governance of urban logistics

Urban logistics is imperative to achieve sustainable urban transitions, given how dependent urban economies are on logistics. Despite their importance, there are several barriers in bringing urban logistics to the forefront in urban planning and design. Cities often do not prioritize urban logistics and view it as a ‘business-to-business’ industry, where the role of public authorities has been limited. Where sustainable urban logistics planning has been prioritized, differing interests of different logistics stakeholders have posed challenges. In order to overcome these challenges, cities have adopted collaborative approaches to integrate multi-stakeholder perspectives into urban logistics planning.

In my PhD, I explore the current state of and potential for collaboration in urban logistics. By using four Norwegian cities as case studies, I adopt network perspectives to explore how urban logistics governance is shaped. I use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate why and how the governance of urban logistics across these cities differ.