Transforming value of sustainability in urban development: Reconfiguring logistics service in the construction industry

Abstract

Urban development depends on construction activity to improve sustainability, yet the logistics required to move materials, equipment, waste, and workers remains insufficiently integrated into urban planning. This paper examines how construction logistics can be integrated into municipal urban planning by analysing how actor groups perceive its impacts and coordinate value creation across fragmented urban systems. The study applies a qualitative interactive research design based on a Swedish construction logistics project. Data were collected between August 2022 and March 2024 through eight semi-structured group interviews, joint workshops, actor-specific validation workshops, and a final synthesis workshop with developers, main contractors, suppliers, and trade organizations. The analysis combines iterative thematic coding with value configuration theory. The findings show that suppliers emphasize efficiency and climate savings, main contractors focus on project efficiency and safety, developers stress sustainability, accessibility and accountability, while trade organizations highlight knowledge-building and sector coordination. These differences create misalignment because societal benefits are often separated from project-level costs. Four conditions are identified as central: clearer procurement requirements, stronger logistics knowledge, scalable logistics service designs, and systematic follow-up of time, cost, and emission effects. The paper concludes that municipalities should use procurement, planning requirements and follow-up mechanisms to enforce construction logistics values in urban planning.