Urban freight transport and multi-level governance

Public actors, such as municipalities, for example, have a central responsibility to govern and plan for more sustainable transport systems, in which urban freight should be included (see Chapter 12 by Dablanc in this Handbook). However, freight transport is a very heterogeneous activity that involves a network of numerous actors. The actors hold different interests, resources, and objectives, making planning challenging. This chapter discusses a multi-governance perspective on urban freight transport. The governance perspective emphasizes public sector roles in particular and their governance capabilities in a network context. A majority of the urban freight transport literature on governance has emerged over the last ten years, and this perspective has received increased attention among scholars more recently. The main literature addresses challenges related to stakeholders and presents solutions for coordination and collaborative practices. However, decision-making processes might also harbour problems and contradictions, which can lead to blockages and failure to meet goals related to a sustainable freight system. Few studies include a critical view of the political nature of urban freight transport, which takes account of the role of public actors and their resources in relation to private stakeholders, as well as the political instruments that shape and define actions taken in the network. This calls for clearer conceptualization and modelling on how to understand and further investigate such aspects of urban freight governance.