Inland ports in the urban logistics system. Case studies.

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the results of scientific research on the role of inland ports in the urban logistics systems being part of regional socio-economic systems. In general, scientific research concerned a much wider area, which was the assessment of the role of multifunctional economic spaces such as seaports, inland ports and integrated logistics centers in regional socio-economic systems. Nevertheless, this article focuses on presenting the results of one of the research sub-areas related to inland ports in Europe and their role in the urban logistics system. Inland ports play an increasingly important role in regional socio-economic systems in Europe. Whereas thirty years ago they were typical water-to-land transport nodes with a dominant transport function, many of them, like seaports, have also developed logistic, distribution and industrial functions. Thanks to the intermodal railway terminals and the container terminals located in their area, they function as integrated logistics centers, supporting not only long-distance water and land transport routes but also local transport routes beginning or ending in metropolitan areas, the part of which constitute these ports. An important factor here is the fact that the majority of inland ports, due to the location, is an element of cities or metropolitan areas. Therefore, these ports have become, in recent years, an internal element of the urban logistics system affecting its shape. Distribution centers operating in their area are elements of the urban delivery systems in which the ports operate. Freight transport routes often pass through adjacent metropolitan areas. Usually, inland ports of this type also have passenger terminals, where tourists visiting port cities create certain traffic flows. In the research process, using various research methods, the thesis was proven that inland ports functioning as integrated logistics centers are part of the logistics system of urban or metropolitan areas in which they operate.