In France and abroad, the urban movement of goods has generally been less studied than passenger mobility and public transport. A bibliographical research done over the last 25 years, (mostly in France but also in some European countries and in the US) shows the following phases regarding the interest given by transport professionnals and experts to the issue of Urban Freight and City Logistics : fundamental research programs have been engaged in the beginning of the 1970s , but neglect and lack of further studies have dominated between 1975 and 1985 ; a new and growing interest for urban freight has emerged at the end of the 1980s and is continuing throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In France, this interest was created and supported mostly through a comprehensive national research program from the Ministry of Transport and the ADEME (Agency for the Environment), called programme national "Marchandises en ville" (national program on goods in cities).

Contact : Laetitia Dablanc