Vasco Nunes Silva

Abstract
The impacts of the e-commerce growth have increased the urgency in designing and adopting new alternative delivery strategies. In this context, it is important to consider the particularities of each city like its terrain conditions. This article aims at exploring the impact of road slopes on parcel delivery operations, and how they condition the adoption and implementation of alternative, more sustainable delivery strategies. To this end, a microscopic traffic simulator was used to evaluate different delivery strategies including ICE vans, electric vans, and cargo bikes in three different slope scenarios. This evaluation was based on a medium-sized European city and conducted by comparing the same parcel delivery route at three levels: operational (route length, duration, and waiting time), energy consumption, and emissions. The results revealed that as the road slopes increased, more time was needed to deliver all packages, waiting times grew longer, and vehicles' energy consumption and emissions levels intensified. From the flat terrain to the most sloped terrain, there was an increase in duration of around 5% for traditional and electric vans, 35% for large cargo bikes, and 14% for small cargo bikes. The ICE van suffers a 105% increase in waiting time; the electric van 71%; the large cargo bike 68% and the small cargo bike 52%. Energy consumption also varied, with ICE vans and small cargo bikes consuming nearly 30% more energy, while electric vans and large cargo bikes consumed 4% and 60% more energy, respectively. The ICE van's emissions of CO, HC, PMx, NOx, and CO2 are 13%, 10%, 1%, 20%, and 29% higher, respectively. Moreover, in flatter terrains, the better strategies are the electric van or a large cargo bike, while in more sloped terrains, the most adequate one is the electric van. These findings suggest that the electric van is the best overall strategy for different terrains and different decision-making profiles, ranking first in more than 70% of the profiles across all three terrains.

Abstract
Globalisation, urbanisation and the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been raising the demand for logistic activities. This change is affecting the entire supply chain, especially the last-mile step. This step is considered the most expensive and ineffective part of the supply chain and a source of negative economic, environmental and social externalities. This article aims to characterise the sustainable urban last-mile logistics research field through a systematic literature review (N = 102). This wide and holistic review was organised into six thematic clusters that identified the main concepts addressed in the different areas of the last-mile research and the existence of 14 solutions, grouped into three types (vehicular, operational, and organisational solutions). The major findings are that there are no ideal last-mile solutions as their limitations should be further explored by considering the so-called triple bottom line of sustainability; the integration and combination of multiple last-mile alternative concepts; or by establishing collaboration schemes that minimise the stakeholders' conflicting interests.

Abstract
Globalization and the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased number of consumers using e-commerce services. This trend has been raising the demand for logistic activities, especially on the last-mile. This part of the supply chain is expensive and ineffective, and a source of negative externalities such as air and noise pollution, traffic congestion and accidents. The anticipation of innovative solutions can help to mitigate these costs. In this context, this paper provides a systematic literature review of the existing literature regarding emerging solutions for last-mile parcel delivery. For guiding the development of more sustainable last-mile parcel distribution, and to provide some insights for future research, we identified and summarized the emerging concepts within this field domain. The results show that innovative solutions have been emerging at different levels: (i) definition of new crowdsourcing-based models, (ii) use of new types of vehicles, and (iii) development of optimization systems based on data collection and the combination of different technologies. Moreover, recent studies show that new strategies are being developed focusing on using consumers as active actors of delivery; non-road and autonomous vehicles are promising concepts in last-mile operations; and different logistic operations, such as vehicle routing, are being optimized with data analytics, cloud technology and mobile apps.

Abstract
E-commerce growth is raising the demand for logistic activities, especially in the last-mile, which is considered the most ineffective part of the supply chain and a negative externalities source. Although various solutions aim to address these issues, selecting the best one is challenging due to multiple perspectives, conflicting criteria, trade-offs, and complex and sensitive urban contexts. This article proposes a 4-level hierarchical model based on the triple bottom line of sustainability that may assist decision-makers in selecting the most adequate last -mile solution for historic centers. The model was defined based on a systematic literature review; evaluated by interviewing a set of experts; and quantified according to an AHP-TOPSIS approach. This quantification focused on the historic center of Porto, Portugal. The experts considered all three sustainability dimensions similarly important. Air pollution was the most valued sub-criterion whereas Visual pollution was the least. 67 decision-maker profiles were defined, showing that environmentally oriented decision-makers prefer cargo bikes, while decision-makers who prioritize economic and social factors prefer parcel lockers. All last-mile solutions considered in the model yielded similar results, therefore suggesting a combined distribution strategy. Nevertheless, the use of parcel lockers is the most favorable solution for Porto's historic center.