Chapter 7 Identifying Underlying Urban Logistics Factors in Old Downtown of Córdoba, Argentina

Supply Chain Management and Logistics in Emerging Markets

Emerald

Año: 2020; p. 131 - 156

With an increasing urbanization trend over the last decades, urbanagglomerations are facing different challenges that affect its inhabitants:pollution, traffic congestion, thriving population growth rates, and economicuncertainty. In the context of Latin America, where less than 20% of itsinhabitants live in rural areas and with a projection to decrease to close to10% by the year 2030, providing solutions to reduce the impact of thisincrease of population, on at least one of the issues, seems logical.This study focuses on the urban logistics component to propose a classification method for homogeneous areas, using Factor Analysis (FA) andanalysis of variance (ANOVA) as the main supporting tools. The proposedmethodology builds upon the square kilometer (KM2) methodology developed by MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, applying it in aneuralgic section of the downtown area of a mid-sized city in Latin America:Cordoba, Argentina. The selection was made considering the logisticrestrictions, commercial density, and the relevance of the area for the city.Our proposed methodology uses relevant variables for urban logistics toperform the statistical analysis. The main goal is to develop a data-drivenmethodology to identify clusters to guide Cordoba?s urban logistics policyand decision-making processes.The results suggest a clear relationship between the different commercialactivities and the location inside the area, splitting the area under studyclearly into two main sections with similar overall characteristics and twosubsections inside each one of them, which should be considered as a basisfor further urban logistic analysis and implementation of specific bestpractices thatfit the particular needs.