Logistics facility, road network and district planning: Establishing comprehensive planning for city logistics

Logistics, which support sustained and efficient freight transport in cities, is fundamental for economic development. Logistics has also been singled out to help in improving environmental conditions in cities. A city would therefore need comprehensive logistics planning, covering planning for infrastructure and transportation policies to maximise its impacts and benefits to society. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for city logistics planning. First, the paper describes the relationship between logistics and city formation through a historical review. Second, the paper discusses logistics concepts and clarifies the role of logistics infrastructure planning. Finally, three stages of logistics planning (i.e. large-scale logistics facility, road network, and district planning) are described considering the balanced role of the public and private sectors.