| This dissertation examines how and why warehousing and distribution centers have decentralized from central urban areas to the periphery. The research verifies theoretical discourses on the factors that explain warehouse location change and generates consistent and robust empirical evidence with descriptive analysis and estimation of econometric models. Through three independent yet interrelated empirical studies, this dissertation investigates how the restructuring of the logistics industry has reshaped the spatial distribution of warehousing facilities at the sub-metropolitan level. Findings suggest that freight demand and land prices are two main factors for decentralization. To transport large volumes of freight, the logistics industry has built large-scale warehousing facilities on urban outskirts where land is readily available at relatively lower costs. This process of decentralization involves tradeoffs of logistics costs between land and transport costs. |
