Economical and Environmental Analysis of an Urban Consolidation Center for Belo Horizonte City (Brazil)

The urban freight transportation is a fundamental factor to the development of big cities with a significant importance in the support of people stay of life, besides it plays a role in the maintenance and conservation of industrial and commercial activities and it contributes to industrial competitiveness. However, it impacts the products cost, the regional economic efficiency and the environment as energy consume, pollutant emission, noise and visual intrusion. Starting from a brief review about UCC, it was developed a methodology to analyze the economical and environmental impacts of an urban consolidation center (UCC) that was applied on the Belo Horizonte city (Brazil). The results show a substantial reduction of number of vehicles at congestion area and a decreasing of pollutant emission in the urban environment.