The urbanization process indicates that today’s cities are the main centres where transport demands accumulate. This causes, in effect, an increase in freight and passenger traffic, which in turn contributes to a rise in environmental and noise pollution, accidents, and thus a deterioration of the quality of life in cities. Bearing in mind the numerous advantages of inland waterway transport, it can be assumed that in cities located near inland waterways, this branch can be seen as an important link in the urban logistics chain. Therefore, the aim of this article is to indicate the possibility of using this mode of transport to handle transport needs in cities. Thearticle uses the method of desk research, based on analysing andverifying facts and merging existing statistical data on the urbanization process and experiences related to the use of inland waterway transport to handle various transport needs in selected European cities. The article shows that in cargo transit, the use of inland waters in urban logistics is an attractive branch of transport, not only in such areas as transportation of construction materials or waste collection but also in transport related to the supply of stores. Positive experiences of Western European cities should inspire action to increase the use of this branch in urban logistics in Poland, e.g., in the city of Gdańsk, located above the Motława waterway.

Contemporary changes in the global economy generate a significant increase in the demand for transport, which requires changes in transport, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development. Innovative solutions in transport, aimed at meeting modern expectations, concern various areas, most often these are technical, operational and logistics innovations. Road and air transport are seen as the most innovative transport branches. The aim of the article is to show innovations implemented in inland waterway transport in those three areas. The article shows that in this mode of transport innovations are also implemented in accordance with the idea of sustainable development.

The aim of this article is to show, at the example of lower Vistula River, that the characteristics of inland waterways may increase the benefits of multipurpose development of waterways. In the paper, the nature of the multipurpose development of waterways, the impact of the specifics of the waterways to the share of inland waterway transport in handling the transportation needs, the process of creating an international transport network, and the effects of the development of waterways in the light of the idea of sustainable development will be presented.

Lower environmental impact of inland waterway transport causes its development to be high on the agenda of the sustainable transport policy. In the above context, the purpose of this article is to discuss the transport function of Polish inland waterways against the background of how primary European inland waterway systems are used. The desk research method was used to analyse waterway use, involving review and consolidation of statistics from various sources capturing freight transport on the primary inland waterways in Europe. Research has shown that inland waterways in Western Europe, regardless of the decline in freight transport in 2009, continue to be important for transport, and their performance may even be higher than that of the infrastructure used for other modes of transport. The transport function of inland waterways in Poland is fading as a consequence of the failure to perform multipurpose waterway management. The above is inconsistent with sustainable transport development priorities adopted by the EU.

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