Integrating logistics into urban land use planning

Source abstract

For many decades, urban planners regarded logistics land uses as incompatible with urban environments, a perspective that intensified environmental externalities and inefficiencies in freight transport. This article proposes an evaluative framework for analyzing logistics land-use policies in urban plans, grounded in fourteen guidelines identified in the literature. Using this framework, four master plans for Fortaleza were assessed over a six-decade period to examine how they addressed warehouse locations. The findings show that zoning consistently displaced logistics activities from the downtown area to peripheral zones, reinforcing logistics sprawl and environmental injustice. The study also highlights the lack of integration between local and regional policies and the recurrence of unsubstantiated proposals. It argues that urban planners should systematically apply the proposed evaluative framework to ensure the proper integration of logistics land-use policies into urban planning.