ABSTRACT
A proper appreciation of the role of freight in the making of contemporary cities and regions does not require a complete rewriting of everything we know about the complex, uneven, creative and uncertain processes of urban development. However, it does demand that we pay more attention to the imprint of the goods and material movements, as well as to the human, financial and virtual flows that are integral to globalization. An appreciation of the persistent urbanization of freight calls attention to policy-making within and across multiple scales and sectors, and to the political role of governments and industry as infrastructure-builders. It also demands renewed attention to the way freight flows are organized, in particular to questions of scale and control. At the same time, attention to physical flow opens up exciting possibilities for research on the relationship between consumption and economic development in both post-industrial and newly industrializing metropolitan spaces.
