City logistics: problems and recovery proposals

The city logistics is the multidisciplinary science that makes a bridge between both urban freight transportation and sustainability of the cities. It has also focused on various subject matters such as populations, facilities, traffics and logistics activities. If all this dynamic criteria consider, different logistics scheme must be prepared for each city. Cities have to be handled and analysed individually according to their own characteristics. In order to understand the current situation and problems of urban freight transport in Turkey, this paper examines the specific focus on Turkey's third largest city Izmir in terms of city logistics with the eye of logistics service providers. A qualitative approach was used and unstructured interviews with subject matter experts were conducted to gain general insight into how logistics service providers perceive the problems in city logistics in Izmir and the solutions they propose. Regarding the gap between theory and practice, this study would be valuable for future research in city logistics studies, and the results of the study would be a practical tool for decision makers in their city logistics planning process.