Using Urban Modelling and Geographical Analyses to Tackle Emergent Urban Logistics Issues: Developing a Decision-making Tool for Urban Goods Distribution

For the most part, urban goods transportation is neglected by urban studies and urban planning, as opposed to urban passenger transportation. This article will present outcomes of a research project whose goal is to develop an efficient decision-making tool for urban logistics from a spatial and territorial perspective, based on urban modelling and geographical analyses. The hypothesis of this research project is that understanding urban freight through spatial structures will contribute to improving territorial diagnosis, which is essential to the understanding of urban goods distribution issues before any decision can be made and will result in specific and efficient last-mile delivery solutions. This article will describe the methodology of the decision-making tool, and discuss its limitations, inputs and perspectives