A multiscalar and comparative analysis of warehousing development patterns and logistics sprawl in four metropolitan areas: Dallas, Houston (Texas Triangle) New York and Philadelphia (Northeast corridor)

This paper evaluates whether there is a sprawling phenomenon in the spatial patterns of warehouse establishments in the four metropolitan areas (Dallas, Houston, New York, and Philadelphia). The trend of warehouses moving away from urban centers to more suburban and exurban areas is referred to as “logistics sprawl”. To understand and analyze this logistics sprawl, the logistics establishment data (from the County Business Pattern survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau) was collected and mapped for two years (2012 and 2019). The standard deviational ellipse area from the barycenter for all warehousing establishments was calculated and compared between the years 2012 and 2019. This shows that logistics sprawl takes place strongly in the Dallas and Houston areas, quite strongly in the Philadelphia area, but not in the New York area. This paper discusses whether logistics sprawl is a global trend by comparing these results to previous works on logistics sprawl. This paper contributes to the existing literature because it provides a comparative and multiscalar analysis of these four metropolitan areas and two megaregions (the Texas Triangle and Northeast Corridor).