📦𝐔𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 is a 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 of 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 and 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, enabling the movement of goods that sustain businesses, support essential services, and meet the daily needs of residents. Modern freight systems can help cities to reduce emissions, congestion, aligning with sustainability goals.
✌️At the POLIS Network 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 2024, we heard in many sessions how cities, regions, public transport operators, consultancies, manufacturers, logistics and software development companies are 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬.
📝 Main takeaways:
1️⃣ Urban freight is 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐞-𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞: other critical sectors like construction, services, and waste management play also a relevant role.
2️⃣ 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 the 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬: advanced analytics, real-time traffic management, digital curb management have untapped potential.
3️⃣ Governments can do 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬: new forms of cooperation, coalitions, public-private partnerships are emerging.
4️⃣ Need to 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 across 𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐥 and 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 to avoid conflicts and inefficiencies (i.e. about logistics and multimodal hubs).
🔍 Next challenges:
🔹Ensure 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 and 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 beyond EU funding and projects’ lifetime.
🔹𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: different local and national regulations on emissions, vehicle types, delivery times create challenges for operators.
🔹𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐞: many urban areas lack adequate loading/unloading zones and logistics infrastructure, leading to inefficiency.
🔹Urban freight should find 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚 and become a priority for cities.
👏 Thanks to the moderators of the freight-related sessions Ioanna Fergadiotou, Laetitia Dablanc and Paola Cossu, to all speakers for their valuable contributions, and POLIS colleagues for the precious support Niklas Schmalholz and Jonathan De Vriendt.
Domien Stubbe, Satu Reijonen, Luigi Russi, Dr.-Ing. Christoph Rentschler, Eloísa Álvarez de Perea Llamas, Clarissa Reali, Julia Peleikis, Joy Pasquet, Raymond Linssen, Laura Tavernier, Ton Geuzendam, Stan de Caluwé, Jos Streng, Tim Asperges, Bart Vannieuwenhuyse, Anja Q., Jeroen Bulckaen, Martin Quintero Hansen, Asbjørn Drechsler.
URBANE Project, DISCO Project, UNCHAIN Project, DECARBOMILE, MOVE21: Zero Emission 21st Century
See you next year in Utrecht!
📸 Credits photos 1 & 6: Andreas Kurz
#POLIS2024 #SustainableMobility #SmartMobility #urbanfreight
