The Selection of Urban Distribution Centers Considering Industrial Sustainable Development Benefits

With the rapid growth of the social economy and the increasing prevalence of e-commerce, urban distribution centers (UDCs) have become vital hubs for the efficient functioning of cities. The decision regarding the location of UDCs not only impacts the operational efficiency of logistics companies but also plays a crucial role in urban sustainable development planning. Traditional location models are limited in addressing these complexities, which is why this paper introduces an innovative multi-objective location decision-making model. This model accounts for both the construction and operational costs of enterprises, and it uniquely incorporates the industrial sustainable development potential (ISDP) as a core objective function. The goal is to balance enterprise costs with the needs of urban development in location decision-making. This research adopts an interdisciplinary approach, initially using ecological theories to quantify ISDP, then employing System Dynamics to simulate the future trajectories of key industry drivers, and finally applying genetic algorithms to find solutions. The results from the numerical example demonstrate that the model and algorithm are both effective and practical. This research presents a novel approach and method for UDC location decision-making based on the long-term sustainable development of cities for logistics enterprises and urban planners. It also contributes to the related research on urban sustainable development and logistics location.