Research
Research
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My work focuses on city logistics, sustainability assessment, green logistics technologies, and transport decarbonisation policy, particularly within the EU and Ireland. I have also expanded my research interests to transport geography and urban studies.
My work focuses on city logistics, sustainability assessment, green logistics technologies, and transport decarbonisation policy, particularly within the EU and Ireland. I have also expanded my research interests to transport geography and urban studies.
Research Methods
Research Methods
Mixed methods, Delphi method, PROMETHEE method, Interview, Qualitative analytics using NVivo.
I consider myself a qualitative researcher, but I am always open to exploring new methodologies, especially with the rapid advancements in AI. I believe that by leveraging different approaches, we can harvest new data and gain fresh insights, enhancing the stories we tell through research.
Zhang, X. (2024). Road to Sustainability: Developing a Sustainability Performance Measurement Framework for City Logistics from a Multi-Stakeholder Perspective. Technological University Dublin. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21427/0sta-t816
PhD Thesis
PhD Thesis
Sustainability in logistics a timely and timeless topic, especially in light of the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). In my thesis, I focus on assessing the sustainability performance of road transport in urban centres. My empirical finding indicates an ongoing shift towards 'strong sustainability' among governmental and industry stakeholders. However, the inherent heterogeneity between public and private stakeholders remains a challenge for the search for the one ‘best measure’. Hence, I proposed a design-thinking based methodological approach 'Define-Design-Develop-Deploy' 4D Stage Model as a 'road' towards a collaborative sustainability reporting and assessment process among public and private stakeholders in city logistics.
Book Chapter
Book Chapter
Huang, H., Zhang, X. Corrente, S., Siraj, S., Kiba-Janiak, M. (2024), "Chapter 10: Facilitating Sustainable Logistics Policy Development Using Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis: A Case of Preference Mapping for Cargo Bike Last-Mile Delivery" in Strengthening European mobility policy - Governance recommendations from innovative interdisciplinary collaborations, Springer Nature, Switzerland. (Link to the full paper)
[Open dataset for this project] Huang, H., Corrente, S., Kiba-Janiak, M., Siraj, S., & Zhang, X. (2024). Survey Data for Multicriteria Satisfaction Analysis of Cargo Bike Last-Mile Delivery in European Cities [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11401064
Journal Articles
Journal Articles
Zhang, X., Plant, E., Valantasis Kanellos, N. (2022), “An Evaluation of Ireland’s Sustainable Freight Transport Policy”. Logistics, 6, 65. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/logistics6030065 (Link to the full paper)
Zhang, X. and Schramm, H.-J. (2020), "Assessing the market niche of Eurasian rail freight in the belt and road era", The International Journal of Logistics Management, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 729-751. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-12-2019-0351 (Link to the full paper)
Policy Papers
Policy Papers
Reflecting on the latest Ten-year Strategy for the Haulage Sector in Ireland, we propose a few discussion points on the recent policies towards low-carbon freight transport. (Link to full paper)
With a special focus from the transport industry perspective, this report captured the current awareness and perception among the Irish road transport operators (public transport and freight) of transport decarbonisation policies and measures in Ireland. (Link to full paper)
Haulage Strategy Webinar by Department of Transport, Ireland
Haulage Strategy Webinar by Department of Transport, Ireland
In this webnair, I presented on decarbonisation practices in urban logistics in Ireland.
Conference Papers and Presentations
Conference Papers and Presentations
[Virtual presentation] Zhang, X. (2023), “Road to Sustainability: Developing a Multi-stakeholder Sustainability Performance Measurement Framework for City Logistics” in the 1st International UNITAR Research Conference: Climate Security, UN Campus, Bonn, Germany, 24 November 2023.
Zhang, X., Plant, E., Valantasis Kanellos, N. (2022), “Capturing Sustainability Goals in City Logistics: A Delphi Approach to Develop Sustainability Indicators”, 26th International Symposium on Logistics: the Journey to Sustainable Supply Chains, Cork, Ireland, 10-13 July 2022.
Valantasis Kanellos, N. and Zhang, X. (2022), “Determinants for the uptake of Alternatively Fuelled HGVs: Towards a Maturity Framework”, 26th International Symposium on Logistics: the Journey to Sustainable Supply Chains, Cork, Ireland, 10-13 July 2022, doi: 10.21427/d1m9-7660
[Virtual presentation] Zhang, X. and Plant, E. (2021), “Towards a Decarbonisation Roadmap for Road Freight in Ireland: A Gap Analysis of Policy Agenda and Industry Perception”, Logistics Research Network Conference 2021: Sustainable and resilient supply chains in disruptive times, Cardiff Business School, United Kingdom, 8 - 10 September 2021.
Zhang, X., Valantasis Kanellos, N., Plant, E. (2019), “Environmental sustainability of logistics service providers: a systematic literature review on indicators for city logistics”, 24th International Symposium on Logistics: Supply Chain Networks vs Platforms: Innovations, Challenges and Opportunities (pp.405-413), Würzburg, Germany, 14 – 17 July 2019.
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