Plaza Case Logistics

________________________________________________________

PLAZA: A Logistics Park Case Study

Francesca Paparo

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

________________________________________________________

PLAZA, the Logistics Platform of Zaragoza, Spain is the biggest logistic park in Europe. It is

a 10-year project started in 2000, which is now half way through completion. There is not

much literature on logistic parks so far because it is a very recent concept. Usually logistic

activities would flourish around strategic area without any pre-planning. Due to congestion of

those areas, governments are now trying to locate logistics in more decentralized areas and

are trying to build services in order to attract customers.

The case of PLAZA can serve as an example for future development, helping to assess the

viability of newer projects in the same field. In the literature, there are a lot of examples of

automotive or technological parks; however there are no previous case studies on a pure

logistic park.

PLAZA has being build in order to create more jobs in Aragon, which is a region of Spain

where population is constantly decreasing. It aims to attract and retain the current young

population, especially high skilled labor and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Spain and

increase investment in Research and Development in a country bent on becoming one of the

most prosperous in Europe. This venture is an attempt to reverse the common stereotype

which shows southern European countries as the least developed in the European

Community.

The strategy of PLAZA focuses on three pillars:



Geostrategic area: Opening new routes through Europe will mean making sure that

most of the goods will pass through Pyrenees via Zaragoza. Exploiting its strategic

position, Zaragoza will become the new heart of Spain.



Intermodality: The agility of moving containers from trains to truck, the possibility

of the speed of cargo planes and the option of being a dry port...