Sustainable Urban Last-Mile Logistics: A Systematic Literature Review

Vasco Silva (), António Amaral and Tânia Fontes ()
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Vasco Silva: INESC TEC-Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
António Amaral: INESC TEC-Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Tânia Fontes: INESC TEC-Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-27

Abstract: Globalisation, urbanisation and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been raising the demand for logistic activities. This change is affecting the entire supply chain, especially the last-mile step. This step is considered the most expensive and ineffective part of the supply chain and a source of negative economic, environmental and social externalities. This article aims to characterise the sustainable urban last-mile logistics research field through a systematic literature review (N = 102). This wide and holistic review was organised into six thematic clusters that identified the main concepts addressed in the different areas of the last-mile research and the existence of 14 solutions, grouped into three types (vehicular, operational, and organisational solutions). The major findings are that there are no ideal last-mile solutions as their limitations should be further explored by considering the so-called “triple bottom line of sustainability”; the integration and combination of multiple last-mile alternative concepts; or by establishing collaboration schemes that minimise the stakeholders’ conflicting interests.

Keywords: systematic literature review; logistics; last-mile; parcel delivery; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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