Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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3.5.3. Freight and servicing of megacities in developing countries
Dense city areas in developing countries have limited or no space for road capacity expansion, as the
land uses have developed organically over time and are potentially incompatible with logistics
demands. In addition, disorganized population growth has created considerable challenges for the
free flow of vehicle, people and the distribution of goods into and out of these cities. Thus, urban
freight is often seen as a nuisance from the public perspective. Authorities, often fail in their urban
planning processes because they lack the appropriate planning knowledge and tools for such a
network but also because they do not consider every actor’s viewpoint and focus only on regulatory
rules or urban mobility or companies (Vieira et al, 2015; Blanco, 2014).
In developing world megacities, the goods distribution system has become increasingly complex
because of increases in demand, government regulations, traffic congestion, high frequency deliveries
in lighter vehicles, environmental issues, and deliveries in unsafe areas. All actors involved in the
logistics sector want to work more efficiently and maintain their competitiveness but their capacities
and knowledge of the local traffic patterns, safety issues, street network and regulations differ
significantly. The actors directly involved in the logistics chain, such as shippers, logistics service
providers and carriers, located inside or outside megacities have different perceptions related to
regulations and issues in the movement of goods. The involvement of other, unofficial private actors
further complicates any effort to promote collaboration and coordination as well as monitoring of
logistics (Vieira et al, 2015).
Freight movements contribute to the deteriorating traffic conditions in the megacities of the
developing world. In most countries, the freight sector lacks basic infrastructure, such as freight
terminals, warehousing, loading and unloading areas, freight forwarding centres, and other logistical
needs. There are few developing world megacities that plan their logistics activities, thus a
dysfunctional arrangement of goods transport is the norm. Often, in the absence of peripheral routes
or bypasses, heavy goods vehicles pass through the core of cities, contributing to the poor quality of
roads as heavier vehicles pose significantly more pressure to pavements than cars. In turn, poor
quality road surfaces slow trucks more than lighter vehicles. The limited data availability in terms of
origins and destinations of transported goods puts additional barriers to planning freight movements.
For example, in Lagos, Nigeria, despite the large volumes of transported goods in the city, there is no
documented information related to the final destination of goods but only to the next destination for
each logistics provider (Cervero, 2013; Olayinka Somuyiwa, 2010).
Cities in the developing world face the same challenges in dealing with urban freight as cities
elsewhere, but differ significantly in terms of population and area growth, density and economic
disparities. Thus, besides the obvious implications to urban freight movement in these developing
cities (more congestion, less infrastructure, more informality), these unique characteristics create a
salient emerging property for urban freight. There is a large share of small, owner operated retail
outlets that provide goods and services in urban areas in developing countries. These small stores
represent a much larger share of consumer product goods, more than 40% in Latin America and Asia.
InMexico City, for example, there are over 100,000 small stores, or an average of 200 people per store.
Unlike modern retail channels in North America and Europe, these stores are family owned and
operated, cash based, with very limited product assortment and shelf space, a small geographical
market area and with lack of processes and technology, besides a personal mobile phone. Their
servicing requires small vehicles, frequent deliveries due to the small volume and lack of shelf and
storage space. There are no widespread studies, but it is not uncommon for a single small store, of less
than 20-30 square meters, to receive over 30 deliveries per week. These levels of logistics activities
make the prominence of urban freight in developing cities even larger than cities in high income
countries (Blanco, 2014).
The majority of the measures described in the previous section, were developed and implemented in
high income urban cities. Most of them are still applicable in cities and port cities in the developing
world. Voluntary programs, developing of local planning freight policies, efficiency standards and