A paper by Ruggero Golini et. al (2018) proposes a framework to support the collection and classification of information about the features of a city relevant to Urban Freight Transport (UFT). The information is organized in a framework of 28 different layers that are then stored in a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool to enable data retrieval and information graphical display.
The resulting GIS tool represents a decision support system for UFT problems, providing decision makers and stakeholders with a wide range of easy to understand information aimed to support the identification and preliminary evaluation of solutions.
By providing a standardized set of features and sources of information, the framework enables the comparison of different cities. To illustrate the benefits, prototypical real-scale tests based on the framework have been realized in two mid-sized European cities: Bergamo (Italy) and Luxembourg.
For both cities, data were mainly collected from publicly available sources and organized according to the framework.
The data and information collected have been used in collaboration with the stakeholders in order to identify the priorities of intervention and evaluate alternative UFT solutions. The real-scale applications confirmed the usability and effectiveness of the framework in engaging stakeholders and support the process of envisioning shared solutions.
The framework allows the identification and evaluation of the most important dimensions affecting UFT, designed with the specific objective to enable stakeholder engagement and solution identification. The framework also supports the comparison between cities to foster the discussion and the UFT solutions to benchmark.
The framework is designed to exploit as much as possible open data, such as OSM data for infrastructures and commercial activities. The organization of the data and information in layers supports the understanding, analysis, and discussion between stakeholders.