Freight Flows and Urban Hierarchy

David Guerrero (1) , Laurent Proulhac (2)

1 IFSTTAR/AME/SPLOTT - Systèmes Productifs, Logistique, Organisation des Transports et Travail
2 LVMT - Laboratoire Ville, Mobilité, Transport

Varying hierarchy of freight flows between urban areas is the focus of this study. The results of a French survey that describes shipments sent by firms are used for understanding freight flows. The survey shows that the pattern of freight flows between urban areas in France is hierarchical, but varies depending upon whether the flows are generated by wholesale trade activities or by manufacturing. The differences are explained by the specific organizational characteristics of each of these two activities. Wholesale trade broadly reflects the traditional spatial organization of service activities, with interlocking areas of influence. The spatial organization of manufacturing flows is more complex, which can be attributed to the regional specialization of activities.

Mots clés: TRANSPORT DE MARCHANDISE; FABRICATION; TRANSPORT DE MARCHANDISES; ZONE URBAINE; FLUX DE MARCHANDISES

Domaines: Autre

David Guerrero, Laurent Proulhac. Freight Flows and Urban Hierarchy. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 2014, 17p. ⟨10.1016/j.rtbm.2013.12.001⟩. ⟨hal-00954764⟩