Urban freight transport is a critical yet complex component of city logistics, shaped not only by transport networks but also by the morphological structure of urban areas. Traditional forecasting models often neglect this spatial heterogeneity, relying primarily on traffic count
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Urban freight transport is a critical yet complex component of city logistics, shaped not only by transport networks but also by the morphological structure of urban areas. Traditional forecasting models often neglect this spatial heterogeneity, relying primarily on traffic counts or infrastructure topology. This thesis proposes and evaluates ST-SimNet, a Spatio-Temporal Simulation Network designed to enhance freight flow prediction by integrating static urban morphology descriptors with dynamic freight data in a graph neural network framework. Focusing on the city of Amsterdam, the study explores the extent to which detailed urban morphology, including building features, land use, and spatial layout, can improve short-term freight flow forecasts at the road network level. Results demonstrate that incorporating static features significantly reduces error variance, improves peak hour prediction, and enhances node-level stability compared to dynamic-only baselines. Furthermore, analysis reveals that nodes with richer morphology information benefit most, while areas with sparse or noisy static features experience challenges that highlight opportunities for future refinement. The findings offer practical insights for integrating machine learning into digital twin platforms for urban mobility, providing a data-driven, spatially aware layer for freight forecasting in operational city planning systems. Limitations and future directions, including adaptive fusion mechanisms and cross-city generalisation, are discussed. Overall, ST-SimNet advances the integration of urban morphology into spatio-temporal predictive models and demonstrates its practical relevance for modern freight planning in complex urban environments.