The Logistics City Chair is dedicated to research on urban and metropolitan logistics real estate, as well as trends and new consumer practices and their impact on city logistics and logistics facilities. It was launched in 2019, in the form of a partnership between University Gustave Eiffel and Sogaris, joined by Poste Immo in 2020. The Ile-de-France Region has also been a financial partner since 2020.
Warehouses in major metropolitan areas: a comparative analysis of rental price differentials and their impact on logistics sprawl
Renata de Oliveira, Matthieu Schorung and Laetitia Dablanc have completed a research on an international comparison of logistics sprawl, based on a database of 74 large cities. This study includes an analysis of logistics sprawl relationship to rental price differentials between central and suburban areas. Access to the report.
Warehouses in large cities: where does Amazon stand?
Matthieu Schorung and Thibault Lecourt are engaged in a research project on the spatial coverage of Amazon warehouses in the United States as well as on the location of warehouses at different scales (national, local). This research aims to geo-reference and map Amazon location and expansion strategies in the US, taking into account the increasing diversity of warehouse types (from large suburban warehouses, to small urban ones). Here is a set of illustrations awaiting the full report.
Warehouses in major cities: an atlas of logistics sprawl in the United States
For several months, the Chair has been carrying out statistical processing and cartographic representation of logistics sprawl in the main cities of the United States, managed by Matthieu Schorung and assisted for several months by Thibault Lecourt, GIS/mapping expert. This work aims to produce an atlas of logistics sprawl on a national scale, on a megaregional scale, and on a metropolitan scale for a sample of about 40 cities in the United States. This work complements the Chair’s previous work on the logistics sprawl database. It will be available online in the coming weeks.
The mobilities of e-commerce: new research
The Chair has just published the second issue of « Welcome to Logistics City » on e-commerce, its mobilities and its impacts on the city. Link to the publication.
For the Cahiers Palladio, Heleen Buldeo Rai and Laetitia Dablanc also wrote a contribution for « Réflexions immobilières » entitled: « E-commerce and its impact on the city: logistics transformations in the shadows » (in French).
As a Master 2 intern of the Chair, Paul Marcher studied the logistics operations of two shopping centers in Paris and the Paris suburban area, in order to diagnose supply and omnichannel activities and to propose solutions for improvement. Link to an abstract in English and the full report in French.
Data and analysis on e-commerce mobilities: we continue to update the « E-commerce Mobilities Observatory », feel free to consult it: https://www.ecommercemobilities.com/
Real estate for urban logistics
Heleen Buldeo Rai participated in a panel discussion at the Urbanism Next Europe Conference on the need to integrate logistics real estate into urban logistics policy, with Dutch colleagues Bram Kin from TNO, Jos Streng from the City of Rotterdam and Nina van den Berg from Green Business Club Zuidas. Watch the conversation here.
Vincent Escarfail, Master 2 intern of the Chair, studied the urban logistics of Grand Paris Seine Ouest (GPSO), a suburban area in the West of Paris, and established a territorial diagnosis. Link to a summary in English and the complete report in French. Students from the Ecole des Ponts and the M1 of the Paris School of Urban Planning also made a territorial diagnosis of the logistics real estate of GPSO and formulated perspectives of evolution. The report in part 1 and part 2.
Loïck Ulliac, Master 2 intern of the Chair, wrote his Master’s thesis on the economic models of urban logistics real estate. Link to a summary in English and the complete report in French. Romain Casanova’s Master’s thesis, intern at Sogaris, looks at the rise of urban logistics in Paris: logistics real estate, innovations and experiments in this dense urban environment. Link to a summary in English and the full report in French.
Gig workers of instant delivery platforms
Laetitia Dablanc took part in a roundtable discussion at the Forum Vies Mobiles on on-demand instant deliveries, with Dominique Méda, labor sociologist, University of Paris Dauphine and Christophe Gay and Sylvie Landriève, co-directors of the Forum Vies Mobiles. Watch the conversation here (in French).
The results of the fourth survey on delivery platform drivers of the Chair were shared in this article in Les Echos (in French), entitled « Deliveroo, UberEats: who’s behind the Parisian meal delivery driver? »
Low emission zones: France ranks poorly
Lucas Belliard, a Master 2 student interning at the Chair, studied low emission zones in France and Europe and established a ranking of the most proactive cities and countries. In his Master’s thesis, he gives an overview and discusses the challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban logistics. Link to a summary in English and the complete report in French.
Cycle-logistics: how to better adapt logistics real estate to new delivery modes
Damien Zachert, a Master 2 intern at Sogaris, studied cycle-logistics in Greater Paris. In his Master’s thesis, he introduces alternative models for last mile deliveries and discusses the integration of cycle-logistics in real estate projects and the adaptation of buildings to the operation of cargo bikes. Link to an abstract in English and the full report in French.
Laetitia Dablanc participated in the 21st Congress of the French Federation of Bicycle Users, entitled: « The bicycle, new era ». Here is the link to her presentation on bicycles and logistics.
Urban logistics data: a major challenge
Laetitia Dablanc presented an overview of the methods to be explored to obtain additional data on urban goods mobility, during a seminar for the National Federation of Urban Planning Agencies. Link to the presentation.
Raphaël Collin, Master 2 intern at Urban Radar and the Chair, presents an overview of the challenge of collecting logistics data in his thesis. Link to the abstract in English.
Urban logistics and COVID-19: the Chair is regularly solicited on this topic
Laetitia Dablanc spoke during a webinar of the Centre for Transportation and Logistics (India), on the impact of COVID-19 on urban logistics. Her presentation and the recording of the webinar are available on the Chair’s website. She also participated in a roundtable discussion organized by Annales des Mines on digital responses to the health crisis, moderated by Maurice Ronai with Vincent Glad, Sophie Pène from Paris University and Pascal Plantard from Rennes 2 University.
Interventions of the Chair in the media and professional seminars, nominations
In the last months, the Chair has been involved in numerous media and professional seminars (online or in person):
- French-American Innovations Days, Rencontres Transports & Mobilités, Pan Hellenic Convention on Transport, CILOG Mexico, FNAU, IIMA CTL, SITL, Fédération des Usagers de la Bicyclette, International Transport Forum, Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France, Annales des Mines, American Society of Civil Engineers, ORT&L Grand Est, Pembina Institute, Sciences Po Paris.
- France Culture, France Inter, Libération, Tf1, L’Opinion, Capital M6, Le Parisien, La Croix, Les Echos.
Laetitia Dablanc has been appointed to the scientific council of GART and to the expert committee of the Agoralim project.
For more news and information, visit the website: https://www.lvmt.fr/en/chaires/logistics-city/.
Laetitia Dablanc, Chair Director, laetitia.dablanc@univ-eiffel.fr
Heleen Buldeo Rai, post-doctoral fellow of the Chair, heleen.buldeo-rai@univ-eiffel.fr
Matthieu Schorung, post-doctoral fellow of the Chair, matthieu.schorung@univ-eiffel.fr