Impact of the urban logistics and pedestrian mobility: Gamarra case, Peru

Abstract

Goals: This study focuses on assessing disaster risks in a typical inmegacity in Latin America. The baseline focuses on the logistics characteristics of the last mile, the vulnerability of buildings and the mobility of pedestrians.

Design / Methodology / Approach: A risk assessment procedure is developed using logistic metrics through a methodology that captures the most relevant urban information within a square kilometer, and two complementary methods that provide support to obtain metrics associated with the occurrence of disasters.

Results: The results show that the majority of blocks in the analyzed area have levels of precautionary risk due to their high level of store density, structure’s vulnerability, pedestrian movement and freight flow.

Limitations of the research: The main limitations for the data collection were the insecurity, the level of informality and the chaos presented in the studied area.

Practical implications: The main findings allow decision makers to know the most vulnerable areas of the place and, thus, propose recommendations for public policies based on urban knowledge. In addition, the proposed method can be taken as a reference to be applied to other zones of similar characteristics.

Originality / Value: This research develops a methodology that evaluates the risks and mitigates the impact on a specific unstudied commercial area, combining three existing methodologies to correctly asses risk on certain zones. This work is an extension of the work of Huivin et al. (2020); the added value is that it provides deeper literature reviewing that help decision-makers and researchers to know the actual state of the art.