The strategic role of inland ports in advancing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) through logistics and regional development

Despite growing recognition of inland ports as critical logistics infrastructure, their contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain fragmented and inadequately mapped in academic literature. This study addresses this gap through a structured narrative review of 101 peer-reviewed articles from Web of Science and Scopus (2012–2025) examining inland port sustainability outcomes. We present a novel integrated framework categorizing inland ports’ multidimensional impacts into four realized contribution domains: (1) logistics and supply-chain management, (2) sustainable transport and environmental impact, (3) integrated seaport, regional, and urban development, and (4) socio-economic growth and competitive advantage. This framework emphasizes inland ports’ evolution from transport hubs to key enablers of sustainable logistics and regional development. Building on this evidence, we propose five underexplored contribution pathways: (1) economic and industrial growth, (2) social and community well-being, (3) infrastructure and urban efficiency, (4) environmental sustainability, and (5) governance and coordination. We then develop an integrative framework explicitly linking inland port functions to SDG targets, revealing both realized and potential pathways for sustainable development. Our analysis demonstrates that inland ports most consistently advance SDGs 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), with substantial evidence supporting SDGs 3, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 17. This target-level mapping provides practitioners and policymakers with a structured decision-support framework for evaluating inland port investments against sustainability criteria, advancing theoretical understanding of inland ports as multidimensional sustainability enablers while offering structured evidence for integrating these facilities into environmental management strategies aligned with the 2030 Agenda.