Reshaping port-city relationships through underground logistics system: A mixed qualitative approach

Against the backdrop of explosive growth in freight demand, the negative impacts of the traditional road-system-based port-city logistics mode on urban transportation, environment and safety have become prominent livelihood issues, as well as significant economic and social problems. Port-city underground logistics system (PC-ULS) has been widely recognized as an innovative way to ensure the sustainable development of port cities. However, the influence mechanism of PC-ULS on the port-city relationships is still unclear. Thus, this paper attempts to explore the PC-ULS-based port-city relationships formation process and the main influencing factors using a mixed qualitative approach. The social, economic and environmental impacts of PC-ULS on the development of port cities were systematically analyzed using the Shanghe Port ULS and Shanghai Port ULS as the case studies. The results show that the impacts generated by PC-ULS are positive and widely distributed across the economic sphere, port-city traffic, logistics governance, urban equity, stakeholders, ports, and urban spaces, as well as ecological sustainability. Furthermore, the urban planning, technology compatibility and engineering risk related factors have a strong impact on the PC-ULS implementation. A set of incentive policies has been designed to promote the effectiveness of PC-ULS. The findings provide a unique perspective on underground space development and utilization to address port-city conflicts, as well as a reasonable implementation pathway for PC-ULS application. •A novel port logistics innovation measure have been proposed.•A mixed qualitative approach comprising case study and semi-structured interview was adopted.•The key factors affecting the new port-city relationships were analyzed.•Provided a systematic analytical framework for the implementation of PC-ULS.