Relative logistics sprawl: Measuring changes in the relative distribution from warehouses to logistics businesses and the general population

The logistics sprawl – warehousing and distribution centers relocating farther away from central urban areas to the urban periphery – has been widely examined in multiple global trade gateways. The spatial shifts have been attributed to the systematic and geographic restructuring of goods production and distribution systems at the global scale. More recently, growing online shopping sales and demand for instant delivery have put tremendous pressure on online retail businesses to locate order fulfillment centers in urban areas with direct access to the consumer markets. Has the trend of sprawling warehouses reversed? Have warehouses been relocating closer to consumer demand? In this research, I use a relative distribution measure to quantify the spatial distribution of warehouses relative to the logistics sector, the goods movement sector, and the general population over time. The main data source is ZIP Code Business Patterns from 2003 to 2016 with the study area of the 64 largest US metropolitan areas. In 2016, warehouses were most closely distributed relative to logistics sectors (38.6 km), followed by goods movement sectors (41.2 km), and population (43.5 km). From 2003 to 2016, the distance between warehouses and related businesses has increased, but the extent varies with respect to metropolitan and warehouse size. The trend of increasing relative distance from warehouses to related businesses stopped since the economic recession in 2008. Relative distribution measures are significantly correlated with internal ground shipment ton-kilometers but only in large trade gateways.