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The on-time delivery of goods is regarded as a primary factor of the urban economy and is being monitored by businesses and government alike. However, much analysis of freight transportation and the flow of goods into, out of and within urban areas focuses on functional, business-related approaches.This book examines the interrelationship between logistics development on one hand and urban development and geographical issues, such as land use and location, on the other. Avoiding certain one-dimensional views on 'logistics impacts on the city', it discloses the complex interaction of the logistics system with the entire urban environment. It also bridges the gap between recent geographical research into new production systems and (post)modern consumption patterns.Illustrated with case studies from the United States, Germany, France, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, it examines issues such as: the historical nexus between urban areas and logistics; current urban developments with regards to goods distribution; city-region related characteristics of freight flows; locational dynamics; and specific freight related urban problems and conflicts.In doing so, it argues that modern logistics are fundamentally shaping the function and the character of urban places, particularly since logistics networks are increasingly being established distant and independent from cities. These changes affect both the traditional role of the city as a centre of goods merchandising, which is becoming redesigned under the flag of globalized distribution regimes, as well as the urban structure, being shaped by rising preferences made by distributions firms for suburban and ex-urban locations. It concludes that, in future, electronic commerce and supply chains may lead to further changes that are likely to happen but hard to predict, at least in their physical impact.
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THE CITY AS A TERMINAL Transport and Mobility Series Series Editors: Professor Brian Graham, Professor of Human Geography, University of Ulster, UK and Richard Knowles, Professor of Transport Geography, University of Salford, UK, on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Transport Geography Research Group (TGRG). The inception of this series marks a major resurgence of geographical research into transport and mobility. Reflecting the dynamic relationships between sociospatial behaviour and change, it acts as a forum for cutting-edge research into transport and mobility, and for innovative and decisive debates on the formulation and repercussions of transport policy making. Also in the series Ports, Cities and Global Supply Chains Edited by James Wang, Daniel Olivier, Theo Notteboom and Brian Slack ISBN 978 0 7546 7054 4 Achieving Sustainable Mobility Everyday and Leisure-time Travel in the EU Erling Holden ISBN 978 0 7546 4941 0 Policy Analysis of Transport Networks Edited by Marina Van Geenhuizen, Aura Reggiani, and Piet Rietveld ISBN 978 0 7546 4547 4 A Mobile Century? Changes in Everyday Mobility in Britain in the Twentieth Century Colin G. Pooley, Jean Turnbull and Mags Adams ISBN 978 0 7546 4181 0 Rethinking Urban Transport After Modernism Lessons from South Africa David Dewar and Fabio Todeschini ISBN 978 0 7546 4169 8 For further information about this series, please visit www.ashgate.com The City as a Terminal The Urban Context of Logistics and Freight Transport MARKUS HESSE University of Luxembourg © Markus Hesse 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Markus Hesse has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifie