Selected implementations in the field of urban logistics
Attempting to more effectively steer the development of urban transport infrastructure, city managers in Poland often refer to foreign examples. A specific “benchmark” for those dealing with urban logistics in Poland is provided by German examples. Berlin, Munich, Kassel, or Cologne are regularly cited in the literature on the subject as illustrations of effective transport policy and urban transport infrastructure management. The solutions used in these centers constitute valuable material for research on their application in cities in Poland. Despite the systemic nature of managing urban transport infrastructure, the application of such solutions involves the necessity of taking into account the specific conditions of a given center. Proper management of a city’s transport infrastructure can ensure an appropriate approach that, in addition to the specific conditions of a given city and its financial capabilities, would also take into account solutions already proven in practice.
A valuable collection of methods and techniques for managing urban transport infrastructure, from the point of view of city logistics in Poland, are the examples widely described by J. Szołtysek in his Fundamentals of Urban Logistics. This concerns, among other things, solutions in the field of telematics and examples of the division of transport tasks between public and individual transport (Helsinki, Curitiba, Madrid).
Referring to foreign examples, it is impossible to ignore projects that enriched the canon of logistical management of urban infrastructure and whose place of origin and development was Poland. One such program was the attempt to implement the concept of warehouse districts, widely described in “Logistyka” and dating back to the 1970s. This concept took into account various aspects of logistics, just as current concepts for building logistics centers do. The subject of the program were model solutions, modern at the time, of the nature of today’s logistics centers. One of the planned locations for such an “integrated warehouse district” was to be Franowo, which is now part of Nowe Miasto – a district of Poznań. In essence, but only in the 1990s, Franowo developed as a major distribution center for this part of the city – many large-format stores and warehouses were built here, among other things.
The postulate of comprehensiveness of solutions in the field of urban logistics
Undoubtedly, issues related to logistics within a city require comprehensive solutions. The comprehensiveness of these solutions is achieved in various ways. It is a bad principle that actions taken as part of urban transport system transformations are undertaken after the fact. The urban logistics system consists of strongly interconnected components and their mutual relations, which – when properly managed – can satisfy the needs of all entities in the city. One of the elements of the urban logistics system is the subsystem for managing the city’s transport infrastructure. Proper identification of problems related to managing passenger transport processes within the urban transport system can not only ensure a quick reaction to existing problems but also prevent future, probable threats. Distinguishing in the structure of city management processes the processes of logistical management of transport infrastructure, an element of which is the proper recognition and the future perspective of the state of transport infrastructure, can be a necessary condition for increasing the standard of living of residents and the development of the city itself.
Issues of development and solving problems of city functioning are taking on new meaning in a world of dynamic changes. The rapid increase in the population of urban areas and the demand for transport within cities force the organization and integration of actions aimed at their logistical systematization. Unfortunately, in most cases, such integration takes the form of interventionist management, undertaken after events unfavorable to the city have occurred. The comprehensiveness of solutions used in urban logistics, in addition to an integrative perspective, should also take into account a long-term perspective.
Until recently, it was believed that urban road investments were not keeping up with the development of transport solely due to a lack of money and that if one road after another were built and old ones widened, it would be possible to restore tolerable driving conditions. Study papers and the experiences of Western countries force a revision of such opinions. Pictures of congested streets in European metropolises are the best illustration of this. Nowhere – regardless of expenditure – have road builders managed to keep up with the development of motorization and the increase in demand for transport.
The issue of transport congestion and projects in the field of urban logistics are not the exclusive domain of our times. The burden of transport has been felt at every stage of its development. It can be stated that the neglect of the last few decades has played a key role here. The negative effects of transport within cities created the need for logistical organization of urban areas as early as the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. At that time, today’s logistical terminology was not used to define the scope of activities, but the essence of the problem remains the same.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 5/2010.