Landscapes of Trade: Towards sustainable spatial planning for the logistics complex in the Netherlands

Towards sustainable spatial planning for the logistics complex in the Netherlands

Abstract

At the time of writing, the logistics complex of the Netherlands has a building footprint of approximately 80 million square metres, within which a growing number of XXL distribution centres (DCs) exist. This footprint has increased fourfold since 1980, whilst the average size of a DC has more than tripled. Compared to other European countries, the DC footprint per capita is several times higher in the Netherlands. This particular use of the Dutch territory fits with the economic success story of the country as a ‘gateway to Europe’ and has generated a new large-scale landscape type: Landscapes of Trade. Up to the present, the planning system has generally facilitated DC development, whilst societal protests against such developments have increasingly influenced the planning discourse. Fierce debates on logistics have often reflected conflicting stakeholder interests and opposing views rather than a dialogue about strategic ways forward fuelled by the empirical evidence and insights required in planning discourse. Especially in the transition to a sustainable logistics complex, the latter are of great importance.

With insufficient publicly available knowledge, six aspects of the logistics complex have become key polemic issues in the planning discourse. These include the seemingly ubiquitous growth pattern of DCs in the Netherlands, the dominant and increasingly challenged policy narrative of the Netherlands as a ‘gateway to Europe’, and the public-private actor network that appears to fall short of adequate DC planning and development. Other issues are the claimed employment benefits of DCs, the balance of the benefits and burdens of logistics, and the provision of useful spatial planning information for logistics clusters in the emerging circular economy. The issues outlined here are observed both in research and practice and relevant in several parts of Europe and beyond.

By combining different perspectives and methods of empirical research, this thesis aims to shed light on and generate multi-disciplinary insights into the rise of the logistics complex and its planning discourse whilst focusing specifically on XXL DCs in the Netherlands. In doing so, its main goal is to provide an understanding of the evolving spatial pattern of logistics centres and its interaction with the co-evolving planning system. The Dutch logistics complex since 1980 offers a critical European case for the analysis, due to the clear shifts in its spatial pattern and planning system, as well as a fierce and well-documented planning discourse featuring various information sources and actor networks. It is a clear example of logistics sprawl and port regionalisation processes, which have effectively turned the extensive hinterland of the Port of Rotterdam into Europe’s largest and most fragmented dryport. This situation is characterised by a spatial pattern of expanding DCs―partly clustered and partly scattered―near urban agglomerations and infrastructure. Thus, the overarching question in the research is:

What historical, economic, and institutional dynamics shape the rampant expansion of the logistics complex in the Netherlands?

This thesis seeks to contribute to filling six specific knowledge gaps related to the aforementioned six issues and therefore addresses six sub-questions. Chapter 2 addresses the question How has the spatial pattern of DCs in the Netherlands changed over time? It presents an atlas of the Dutch logistics complex, to show and discuss the spatial pattern of DCs and set the scene for the following analytical chapters. Chapter 3 addresses the question On what assumptions was the Gateway to Europe policy narrative (1980–2020) in the Netherlands based? It seeks to answer this question by analysing the sources, advocacy coalitions and policy theories underlying the narrative, through a systematic literature review. Chapter 4 addresses the question What actor-institutional forces shape the spatial outcomes of local XXL DC transactions? It analyses how spatial decisions are made in the actor-institutional dynamics behind the planning and development of DCs, through in-depth interviews and document analysis. Chapter 5 addresses the question What are the regional employment effects of XXL DCs? It does so by analysing the effects of DCs by using company microdata in a threefold spatial-economic approach including direct, indirect and agglomeration effects. Chapter 6 addresses the question What role does spatial justice argumentation serve in the provincial and local planning discourse and decision-making on hinterland logistics? It analyses the argumentation used in the planning discourse on DCs whilst focusing on the just distribution of the gains and pains of logistics. Chapter 7 addresses the question How are the validity and applicability of logistics cluster typologies and related information tools perceived by Dutch planners and policy makers? It answers this question by analysing the outcomes of a Q-sort survey of the user experience of spatial typologies and data-driven maps in the recent policy process of planning logistics clusters.

Each chapter reaches detailed conclusions. When taken together, the results provide three answers to the overarching question. Historical trends and shocks have shaped the planning and development of the Dutch logistics complex. For example, several disruptive events (economic crises, COVID-19) and a general trend of trade internationalisation and market integration have boosted DC growth over time. Recently, geopolitical turmoil and emerging international sustainability agreements have made various global value chains more uncertain, whilst shortages of land and personnel are increasingly posing concrete limits on the expansion of the logistics complex. Furthermore, economic processes and transformations have had a strong influence on the expansion of DCs; for example, the financialisation of DC development, the rise of e-commerce, and expectations about employment related to DCs. This thesis shows how monofunctional XXL DC clusters pressure the already overheated labour market, do not deliver the claimed indirect employment benefits in a region, and increase the risk of spatial-economic lock-in. Additionally, the transition to a circular economy will change the use of the logistics complex, either the management of reverse logistics flows or performance of remanufacturing activities in DCs in the future. Finally, institutional dynamics have been crucial in shaping the logistics complex. For example, a biased narrative that ignored critical reports, as well as unfounded claims, created a policy landscape that stimulated the expansion of logistics whilst assuming that the negative effects would be mitigated along the way through technological fixes and decentralised planning. The latter has introduced perverse incentives in the planning system and increased logistics sprawl. However, the regional and local planning discourse has been able to influence the quality of logistics developments using spatial justice arguments, whilst international corporate development standards and policy information tools have also proved to be valuable instruments used to improve spatial outcomes.

In summary, the dynamic conditions shaping the logistics complex in the 1980s were significantly different from the current situation. Therefore, a new logistics policy narrative—as a follow-up to the Gateway to Europe narrative, is necessarily grounded in these changed dynamics. However, for such a new narrative to be plausible and effective, it must be based on insights from further research regarding the dynamics discussed above, and on adapted planning practices that can effectively use them to pursue the new policy goals.

The outcomes of this thesis suggest three main angles for further research. First, a strategic international perspective on the scale of the Eurodelta. Second, more detailed insights into activities in DCs. Third, insights into the roles and dynamics of the fragmented actor network behind the planning and development of the logistics complex—especially semi-governmental organisations and intra-governmental dynamics. The thesis makes three main recommendations for public and private practitioners to further the interdisciplinary and sustainable development of the logistics complex. First, equal and open information provision based on research and practical experience in the actor network. Second, enhancing interdisciplinary planning and design competencies, focused on the spatial side of the physical internet (PI), and the logistics side of multifunctional urban developments. Third, collaborative attitudes among public and private actors in strategic spatial planning and development, focusing on the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the logistics complex. Commitment to such a research agenda and updated practice would enable a well-informed and broadly supported policy narrative on logistics—one that allows society to get the most out of each square metre in the Landscapes of Trade.