Digitalisation of Supply Chain Management and Logistics in Smart Cities

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue on "Digitalisation of Supply Chain Management and Logistics in Smart Cities" delves into the dynamic interplay between digital transformation and urban logistics. As cities worldwide embrace smart technologies to address urbanisation challenges, supply chain management and logistics have become critical domains for innovation. This issue highlights the pivotal role of digitalisation in enabling efficient, sustainable, and adaptive supply chains that meet the demands of modern smart cities. By investigating the integration of cutting-edge technologies into urban logistics, the issue provides a platform for exploring transformative strategies that improve operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and environmental sustainability.

Digitalisation in supply chain management encompasses a wide range of technological advancements that include Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and Cyber–Physical Systems. These technologies collectively revolutionise the way supply chains operate, enabling enhanced visibility, real-time tracking, predictive analytics, and decentralised decision-making. This issue seeks to explore how such technologies can address critical urban logistics challenges, including traffic congestion, last-mile delivery inefficiencies, and carbon emissions, which are pressing concerns in rapidly growing urban environments.

The focus also extends to understanding the socio-economic and environmental impacts of digitalising supply chains in smart cities. With urban logistics playing a significant role in achieving sustainability goals, this issue investigates how digital tools can support eco-friendly practices, such as route optimisation, consolidation centres, and electrified fleets. The intersection of digitalisation and sustainability is particularly crucial in smart cities, where balancing economic growth with environmental preservation is a key priority.

Another core focus is the governance and policy implications of digitalising urban logistics. As smart cities become increasingly dependent on interconnected systems, questions arise regarding data security, privacy, and regulatory frameworks. This issue examines how policy-makers and urban planners can foster an environment conducive to innovation while addressing the risks associated with digital transformation. Case studies and best practices will shed light on how cities have successfully navigated these complexities.

Finally, the Special Issue seeks to highlight collaborative efforts between academia, industry, and government in driving digitalisation forward. By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, it aims to identify actionable insights and innovative solutions that can be implemented in diverse urban contexts. The issue encourages contributors to explore real-world applications, theoretical frameworks, and future trends in digitalising supply chains, offering a comprehensive view of this rapidly evolving field.

Scope

The collection will cover a broad spectrum of topics, including but not limited to, the following:

• Integration of smart technologies in urban supply chains.
• The role of digital twins and predictive analytics in logistics.
• Blockchain applications for transparency and trust in urban supply chains.
• AI and machine learning in decision-making and demand forecasting.
• Sustainable and efficient last-mile delivery solutions.
• Impacts of digitalisation on supply chain governance and stakeholder collaboration.
• Policy implications and ethical considerations in digitally transforming urban logistics.
• Case studies of smart cities that have successfully implemented digital supply chain solutions.
• This issue encourages contributions from interdisciplinary perspectives, including management, engineering, computer science, urban planning, and sustainability studies.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this Special Issue is to advance the understanding of how digitalisation can address the unique challenges of supply chain management in smart cities. It aims to achieve the following:

• Bridge the gap between theory and practice by showcasing cutting-edge research and practical applications.
• Provide insights into the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies.
• Inspire new strategies and policies for integrating digital technologies into urban logistics.
• Foster collaboration among academia, industry, and policy-makers to achieve smarter, more sustainable cities.

Relationship to Existing Literature

While existing literature addresses digitalisation in supply chain management and logistics, this Special Issue provides a targeted focus on its application in smart cities. The collection aims to supplement the existing body of knowledge through the following methods:

• Providing empirical evidence from diverse geographic and cultural contexts.
• Highlighting interdisciplinary approaches to integrating technology and urban logistics.
• Focusing on emerging trends such as decentralised supply chain models, autonomous vehicles, and urban consolidation centres.
• Addressing gaps in research related to sustainability, policy frameworks, and the socio-economic impact of digitalisation in urban logistics.

Dr. Hajar Fatorachian
Prof. Dr. Kulwant Pawar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Smart Cities is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.