22-04-2014, 11:35 AM
Markus Hesse Institute for Geographische Wissenschaften,
ABSTRACT
Real Estate Market And Political Regulation of Regional Distribution Complex and said
that Physical distribution, logistics and freight transport are currently being shaped by new
technologies, corporate restructuring, and a changing market environment. Following the
rapid growth of logistics, the demand for distribution facilities increases significantly. As a
consequence, logistics real estate markets have emerged, shaping local development
practices. By establishing distribution centres as single entities and integrated freight centres
as agglomerations, they contribute to the formation of ‘regional distribution complexes’. The
paper aims to exemplify this interrelation with two case studies in Berlin-Brandenburg,
Germany: first a publicly developed integrated freight centre, offering multi-modal transport
access and logistics services, and second a dispersed logistics site off the regional beltway,
developed with respect to market requirements only. The paper finds that rising location
competition contributes to accelerated land consumption and further dispersal. Speculative
development and outsourcing of facilities are ‘mobilising’ not only goods flows but also
logistics infrastructure. Both practices, originally developed in the USA and the UK, are now
changing land markets in continental Europe and affect urban and regional development.