Urban freight distribution has confronted several challenges, including negative environmental, social, and economic impacts. Many city logistics initiatives that use the concept of Urban Consolidation Centers (UCCs) have failed. The failure of many UCCs does not mean that the idea of additional terminals or microhubs should be rejected. There is limited knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of using microhubs, requiring further exploration of this concept. To expand this knowledge, this research combines 17 empirical cases from Europe and North America to develop a framework for classifying different microhubs typologies. This research presents an integrated view of the cases and develops a common language for understanding microhub typologies and definitions. The research proposes microhubs as an important opportunity to improve urban freight sustainability and efficiency and one possible step to manage the challenge of multi-sector collaboration.

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The main purpose of the paper is to explore the importance of stakeholders’ interaction in the different stages of the implementation process of city logistics initiatives and to assess the extent to which interaction may vary between two apparently similar initiatives. A comparative, longitudinal study, with data from two Swedish city logistics initiatives is conducted. The findings highlight the multiple stakeholders’ interaction and suggest that various degrees of such interaction can be beneficial for sustainable city logistics initiatives. The study demonstrates that although the interactions can be considered broadly similar, there are differences that have an impact on the implementation and development of such initiatives over time. It also highlights the relevance of integrating initiatives with existing networks to provide longer-term viability in the implementation process.

The literature presents a considerable number of practical experiences of urban consolidation centres (UCCs) and some estimates for vehicle reduction. Still, there is limited knowledge about the potential reduction of the environmental impact and the related externality costs. This paper evaluates the environmental impacts of consolidation in four scenarios of different consolidation set-ups. It aims to estimate and discuss how the transport-related externalities in these set-ups can be included in the financial evaluation of city logistics. A modelling framework is used to fulfil these aims. The research validates this modelling framework with empirical data from a city logistics case in Sweden, and then analyses the scenarios. The research presented extends the understanding of the costs of externalities related to UCCs by quantifying the reduction in these costs in the scenarios. The different scenarios provide insights into the transport and environmental effects of different consolidation set-ups.