PhD: Sustainability beyond optimization

Urban Logistics - the movement of goods and services - plays a crucial, yet often overlooked role in influencing the sustainability of cities. When aiming to make urban logistics more sustainable, companies often focus on optimizing and streamlining operations. This results in little attention being paid to the political and social aspects of urban logistics and sustainability efforts in the sector. In this doctoral dissertation, Shrestha views sustainability efforts in urban logistics from a broader perspective, focusing on politics and social relations.

The thesis shows that sustainability management in urban logistics does not only occur through operational optimization but through collaboration between companies, authorities, and residents. It examines power relations, learning processes, and experimental projects, and how these function to make the sector more sustainable. The research investigates how public authorities and private logistics companies negotiate across the cities of Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, and Groningen.

The thesis argues for critically engaging with sustainability and looking at social and political opportunities, instead of focusing solely on technical optimization. Sustainability can involve increasing efficiency, but it can also involve creating socially just and livable cities. Sustainability in cities can take many different forms. If managed correctly, urban logistics can help shape sustainable cities that are better to live in.

About the candidate:

Subina Shrestha holds a master's degree in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. Shrestha's doctoral dissertation is part of the research project Freight Logistics in Sustainable Cities (CityFreight) at the Center for Climate and Energy Transition (CET) at the University of Bergen. She has been supervised by Håvard Haarstad, Simon Neby, and Mahir Yazar. Part of her doctoral work was also carried out at the University of Groningen.