City logistics planning: demand modelling requirements for direct effect forecasting

The paper analyses some aspects of city logistics planning in order to define the main requirements of demand modelling to be applied in ex-ante assessment of scenario effects. The phases of the planning process, in terms of identifying objectives and strategies and assessing effects ex-ante, are briefly analysed in the first part of the paper. The second part focuses on direct effects and the relative forecasting procedure, discussing the models of freight demand to be used. Since one of the identified requirements is an integrated shopping-restocking approach, in the third part of the paper, a state-of-the-art of such approach is reported. Some considerations and conclusions are given in the final part of the paper.