AI-Enabled Sustainable Urban Logistics & Green Supply Chain Mobility

Abstract

The urbanization, e-commerce, and strict social and environmental regulations are leading gradually to the extinction of urban freight systems. Although freight movements account for only a small percentage of total travel in cities, they have a devastating effect on traffic jams, pollution, and energy consumption. These forces have demonstrated the inadequacy of the old urban logistic models still based on prices. The urban transport sector has become stagnant and is not really open to the ideals of sustainability and resilience. In contrast, the urban logistics research has been fragmented into different areas that do not really facilitate the understanding of how digital intelligence can be systematically integrated into the frameworks of sustainable mobility. The core of the research paper is that the future of supply chain mobility and sustainable urban logistics will be greatly influenced by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Both the academic and the practitioner perspectives support the assertion that AI can impact the decision-making at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels of urban freight systems, the study reveals. Demand forecasting, carbon-free route planning, fleet and asset utilization, infrastructure optimization, and city partner coordination are the applications being looked at. The classical and the practical approaches can be combined via the analysis of theories from sustainable mobility and green supply chain management, illustrated with real-world examples from logistics service providers and innovative city projects. The research paper introduces a new urban logistics framework that incorporates AI technology and management strategies based on execution as a result of the literature review. They also provide evidence from several industrial cases to support their claims. The paper discusses the technical, organizational, ethical, and political issues that contribute to the success or failure of AI in urban areas where the going gets tough. The overall research points to AI's potential not only to contribute to a city's sustainability and resilience but also to the requirement of having the proper institutional setups and human-centered capabilities. The information provided is useful for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners dealing with AI-powered urban freight systems as it can lead to better design, management, and scalability of these systems.