Abstract:
Urban freight transport is a critical yet often overlooked component of city planning, especially in Tier-2 cities like Bhopal. As urban areas continue to grow, the demand for goods movement increases, straining infrastructure and creating inefficiencies in mobility and land use. Despite freight transport’s significant impact on urban functionality, it remains largely excluded from mainstream urban planning processes. This gap undermines efforts to create sustainable and efficient urban environments, especially in fast-growing Indian cities where planning tends to prioritize passenger movement over goods flow.
This research addresses this shortfall by developing a data-driven framework for assessing and integrating freight generation into urban planning practices. It is structured around three core objectives: identifying key freight-generating locations and commodity-specific characteristics; estimating per square meter freight generation coefficients for selected commodity groups; and applying these coefficients to real-world market areas to estimate total daily freight flow. These objectives work in tandem to provide a comprehensive understanding of freight dynamics and their spatial implications.
The methodology combines spatial mapping, establishment-based surveys, and statistical modelling. Data are gathered in two phases: Phase I includes GIS mapping and qualitative interviews across Bhopal’s freight-intensive areas; Phase II involves a structured Establishment-Based Freight Survey (EBFS) using a stratified sampling strategy. The survey design draws on the "Quick Response Freight Manual II" and targets diverse zones within the city. Simple Linear Regression (SLR) model yields statistically significant coefficients for freight generation per square meter, validated by comparing theoretical outputs with observed flows in major market areas. The results underscore the importance of integrating freight considerations into land use and mobility plans. By providing reliable coefficients and spatial insights, the study contributes both to academic research in urban freight and to policy-making, supporting the development of sustainable and equitable freight networks in Indian cities.
