IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03272805.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Equilibrium and Optimal Location of Warehouses in Urban Areas: A Theoretical Analysis with Implications for Urban Logistics

Author

Listed:
  • François Combes

    (IFSTTAR/AME/SPLOTT - Systèmes Productifs, Logistique, Organisation des Transports et Travail - IFSTTAR - Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux - Communauté Université Paris-Est)

Abstract

This paper presents a structural microeconomic model of the choice of warehouse location in urban logistics. The model is theoretical and analytical. It brings the focus on operational constraints, their diversity, and their influence on costs. The location decision is modelled as a trade off between land rents (making it costly to locate close to the center of the urban area) and transport costs (which increase non linearly when the warehouse moves away from the city center.) The influence of various parameters on the optimal warehouse location is analysed. The following conclusions are drawn. First, increased demand contributes to explain logistic sprawl: when the density of operations (pick-ups and deliveries) increase in a given area; transport is more efficient, making it less necessary for warehouses to be close to the city center. Second, urban logistics is a heterogenous sector and, depending on the operational constraints, will not react homogenously to changes in economic parameters or the implementation of public policies. Third, economies of scale are identified: some implications are discussed. Fourth, the paper briefly discusses how land-use planning, regarding in particular warehouses, can help internalise some of the externalities of urban logistics.

Suggested Citation

  • François Combes, 2019. "Equilibrium and Optimal Location of Warehouses in Urban Areas: A Theoretical Analysis with Implications for Urban Logistics," Post-Print hal-03272805, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03272805
    DOI: 10.1177/0361198119838859
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03272805
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03272805/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0361198119838859?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohring, Herbert, 1972. "Optimization and Scale Economies in Urban Bus Transportation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 591-604, September.
    2. Laetitia Dablanc & Scott Ogilvie & Anne Goodchild, 2014. "Logistics Sprawl: Differential Warehousing Development Patterns in Los Angeles and Seattle," Post-Print hal-00944130, HAL.
    3. Sakai, Takanori & Kawamura, Kazuya & Hyodo, Tetsuro, 2015. "Locational dynamics of logistics facilities: Evidence from Tokyo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 10-19.
    4. Dablanc, Laetitia & Ross, Catherine, 2012. "Atlanta: a mega logistics center in the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion (PAM)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 432-442.
    5. Daniel Graham & H. Kim, 2008. "An empirical analytical framework for agglomeration economies," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(2), pages 267-289, June.
    6. Agatz, Niels A.H. & Fleischmann, Moritz & van Nunen, Jo A.E.E., 2008. "E-fulfillment and multi-channel distribution - A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 187(2), pages 339-356, June.
    7. W. J. Baumol & H. D. Vinod, 1970. "An Inventory Theoretic Model of Freight Transport Demand," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(7), pages 413-421, March.
    8. Marc Serouge & Danièle Patier & Jean-Louis Routhier & Florence Toilier, 2014. "Enquête Marchandises en Ville réalisée en Île-de-France entre 2010 et 2013," Working Papers halshs-01727717, HAL.
    9. Carlos F. Daganzo, 2005. "Logistics Systems Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-3-540-27516-9, January.
    10. Laetitia Dablanc & Zeting Liu & Martin Koning & Jens Klauenberg & Leise Kelli de Oliveira & Corinne Blanquart & François Combes & Nicolas Coulombel & Mathieu Gardrat & Adeline Heitz & Saskia Seidel, 2017. "Observatory of Strategic Developments Impacting Urban Logistics (2017 version)," Working Papers hal-01627824, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Yitao & Jia, Bin & Yan, Xiao-Yong & Chen, Yan & Song, Dongdong & Zhi, Danyue & Wang, Yiyun & Gao, Ziyou, 2023. "Estimating intercity heavy truck mobility flows using the deep gravity framework," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. David Guerrero & Jean Paul Hubert & Martin Koning & Nicolas Roelandt, 2022. "On the Spatial Scope of Warehouse Activity: An Exploratory Study in France," Post-Print hal-03551270, HAL.
    3. Guerrero, D. & Hubert, J.-P. & Koning, M. & Roelandt, N., 2022. "On the spatial scope of warehouse activity: An exploratory study in France," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sakai, Takanori & Kawamura, Kazuya & Hyodo, Tetsuro, 2020. "Logistics facilities for intra and inter-regional shipping: Spatial distributions, location choice factors, and externality," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Kang, Sanggyun, 2020. "Warehouse location choice: A case study in Los Angeles, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. Kang, Sanggyun, 2022. "Exploring the contextual factors behind various phases in logistics sprawl: The case of Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    4. Jaller, Miguel & Pineda, Leticia, 2017. "Warehousing and Distribution Center Facilities in Southern California: The Use of the Commodity Flow Survey Data to Identify Logistics Sprawl and Freight Generation Patterns," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5dz0j1gg, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    5. Giuliano, Genevieve & Kang, Sanggyun & Yuan, Quan, 2016. "Spatial Dynamics of the Logistics Industry and Implications for Freight Flows," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt94h6t7s9, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    6. Kang, Sanggyun, 2020. "Relative logistics sprawl: Measuring changes in the relative distribution from warehouses to logistics businesses and the general population," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Kang, Sanggyun, 2020. "Why do warehouses decentralize more in certain metropolitan areas?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Yuan, Quan & Zhu, Jiren, 2019. "Logistics sprawl in Chinese metropolises: Evidence from Wuhan," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 242-252.
    9. Laetitia Dablanc & Corinne Blanquart & Adeline Heitz & Jens Klausberg & Zeting Liu & Martin Koning & Leise Kelli de Oliveira & François Combes, 2016. "Observatory of Strategic Developments Impacting Urban Logistics (2016 version)," Working Papers hal-01921116, HAL.
    10. Li, Guoqi & Sun, Wenjie & Yuan, Quan & Liu, Sijing, 2020. "Planning versus the market: Logistics establishments and logistics parks in Chongqing, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Sakai, Takanori & Kawamura, Kazuya & Hyodo, Tetsuro, 2017. "Spatial reorganization of urban logistics system and its impacts: Case of Tokyo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 110-118.
    12. Aljohani, Khalid & Thompson, Russell G., 2016. "Impacts of logistics sprawl on the urban environment and logistics: Taxonomy and review of literature," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 255-263.
    13. Luísa Tavares Muzzi de Sousa & Leise Kelli de Oliveira, 2020. "Influence of Characteristics of Metropolitan Areas on the Logistics Sprawl: A Case Study for Metropolitan Areas of the State of Paraná (Brazil)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Klauenberg, Jens & Elsner, Lucas-Andrés & Knischewski, Christian, 2020. "Dynamics of the spatial distribution of hubs in groupage networks – The case of Berlin," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    15. Giuliano, Genevieve & Kang, Sanggyun, 2018. "Spatial dynamics of the logistics industry: Evidence from California," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 248-258.
    16. Meiling He & Lei Zeng & Xiaohui Wu & Jianqiang Luo, 2019. "The Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Logistics Enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-20, September.
    17. Sakai, Takanori & Kawamura, Kazuya & Hyodo, Tetsuro, 2019. "Evaluation of the spatial pattern of logistics facilities using urban logistics land-use and traffic simulator," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 145-160.
    18. Meiling He & Jiaren Shen & Xiaohui Wu & Jianqiang Luo, 2018. "Logistics Space: A Literature Review from the Sustainability Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    19. Laetitia Dablanc & Zeting Liu & Martin Koning & Jens Klauenberg & Leise Kelli de Oliveira & Corinne Blanquart & François Combes & Nicolas Coulombel & Mathieu Gardrat & Adeline Heitz & Saskia Seidel, 2017. "Observatory of Strategic Developments Impacting Urban Logistics (2017 version)," Working Papers hal-01627824, HAL.
    20. Gardrat, Mathieu, 2021. "Urban growth and freight transport: From sprawl to distension," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03272805. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.