Contributing to Crafting Sustainable Urban Ecosystems: The Case of City Logistics

City logistics has been identified as a significant contributor to urban nuisances, yet existing research has struggled to comprehensively address these issues. Most studies adopt an instrumental, industry-centric approach, focusing on optimizing interactions with urban stakeholders to improve performance. This perspective often isolates city logistics from its broader context, treating it as an independent system rather than a component of the urban environment. Adopting a theoretical lens that views cities as social-ecological systems, this article conceptualizes logistics actors as a sub-ecosystem nested within the urban ecosystem. By drawing an analogy between city logistics and the gut microbiota, the study examines the behavior of logistics actors within their urban context at the micro and meso levels. An ethnographic research protocol is employed, offering a deeper understanding of its interac- tions with other urban sub-ecosystems. This article contributes to the sustainable urban ecosystem literature by presenting a novel perspective that integrates city logistics into the framework of the urban ecosystem. It highlights the complex interdependencies between supply chain actors and their social and environmental contexts. Additionally, it provides insights into how logistics actors balance the demands of supply chain partners with the sustainability requirements of urban ecosystems. Ultimately, this study contributes to a deepened understanding of the challenges of crafting sustainable urban ecosystems from the perspectives of urban actors, at the micro and meso levels.