Abstract
Distribution centres are becoming more and more relevant for spatial planning, due to their rapidly increasing size and number. There is little literature, however, that provides a generalized analysis of the size and functional attributes of distribution centres, and none that discusses the relationships between these attributes. Our aim is to fill this gap by providing new evidence and analysis to understand this relationship. We make use of an extensive database of 2888 DCs in the Netherlands to develop a new typology of DCs based on the geographical location of DCs, their functional attributes and client sector characteristics. The analysis shows that the context in which medium sized DCs are operating is more heterogeneous than in the case of very large and small size DCs. This study is a first attempt to analyse this relationship between facility size and functions based on a rich and extensive dataset of large population of DCs. The results can serve as input for further quantitative statistical analysis and international comparison.
Highlights
In the context of increasing globalisation of production networks, the increased complexity of supply chains and change in consumer behav iour, a broad range of logistics facilities has emerged during the past decades to support the distribution of products from producers to con sumers
The proposed typology consists of two layers, a first layer in which there is distinction between sectors, and second layer including functional criteria which explain the variation within the first layer – for example, functional criteria such as market service area can explain whether a parcel facility has a small or large size
Many concepts related to logistics facilities can be found in the literature – e.g. distribution centre, warehouse, freight hub, e-fulfilment centre, Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC), logistics depot - but a stan dard typology of logistics facilities is lacking (Higgins et al, 2012; Notteboom et al, 2017)
Summary
In the context of increasing globalisation of production networks, the increased complexity of supply chains and change in consumer behav iour, a broad range of logistics facilities has emerged during the past decades to support the distribution of products from producers to con sumers. These facilities serve to consolidate and deconsolidate goods flows. The typology can support scholars to differentiate between types when studying their impact on urban areas in terms of land use, freight traffic, emissions, and employment. Spatial planners could use the characteristics of each type to discuss what are suitable locations for different facility types and design spatial plans
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