Author: Cláudia Ribeiro, POLIS
Urban logistics is crucial for the well-functioning of cities. However, it has expanded dramatically in recent years due to growing consumer demand and online shopping. With these flows expected to skyrocket further in upcoming years, cities are placing additional importance on operational planning and decision-making for urban freight, developing procedures and technologies that can help them achieve zero-emission logistics.
The Flemish cities of Ghent, Leuven and Mechelen have high ambitions to decarbonise their urban logistics, in line with European (EU Green Deal) and national and regional policy (i.e. Green Deal Sustainable Urban Logistics in Flanders).
To realise this ambition, there is a need for an integrated approach, combining measures, providing incentives both for private operators to clean their fleets and distributions, and policies to speed up the transition. Specifically, at the local level, these cities are also rolling out a series of strategies and policies to contribute to the wider ambition of decarbonising urban mobility, as well as logistics, such as:
- Introduction of low-emission zones and traffic circulation plan, development of a pre-SULP guideline in Ghent,
- Leuven Climate Contract (LKN 2030) bringing together businesses, city authority, academia and the community, also focusing on sustainable urban logistics,
- Covenant for Sustainable Urban Logistics bringing together logistics companies in Mechelen.
The three leading cities are partners in several EU-funded research projects with a clear strategy to leverage their participation in such projects to develop methodologies and test technologies that can contribute to their ultimate goal of achieving zero-emission urban logistics. The GREEN-LOG Flanders Living Lab is one cog in this machine, with the testing of an innovative Logistics-as-a-Service platform (LaaS), focusing on data sharing, linking demand and supply more efficiently. Further, Ghent, Mechelen and Leuven are implementing a series of additional projects/policies to achieve their goals of more sustainability, from which we highlight a few:
- DISCO: Ghent pursues automated communication of rules, sustainable alternative routes/modes, and, in general, city access regulations to allow for a pre-trip planning phase of transport network management and to pro-actively engage logistics service providers in choosing sustainable alternative solutions for city logistics;
- FlexCURB: Test pilot implemented in Leuven, focusing on dynamic curbside management for logistics with the digitisation of parking spaces and regimes. It included aggregated information on where to park, how long, and retribution, among others, brought together in a platform for policy-makers, as well as an app for drivers. The app’s features included locating nearby (flexible) loading zones, checking in on parking bays or curbside to register the use of this space and feed it back into the platform, and informing drivers about the parking time they had left;
- UNCHAIN: Mechelen takes the role of Follower City to maximise the uptake and replication of solutions and services developed in the project, specifically a SUMPs and SULPs guidance tool, freight-efficient land use strategy, active UVARs and city regulations tools, Knowledge Powerhouse for urban logistics and an advanced management IT cockpit of shared facilities
Demonstration and pilot activities developed in EU-funded projects are important pieces of the puzzle on the road to decarbonisation of logistics, allowing cities to experiment with potential solutions and contribute towards more sustainable urban logistics. GREEN-LOG will be instrumental in the development and refinement of digital consolidation tools to be used by city authorities, logistics providers, increasing the efficiency and sustainability of logistics operations.
GREEN-LOG’s Logistics-as-a-Service platform will be useful to those who need to transport goods from e-commerce packages to locally produced goods, and even less commercial supply chains like the collection of food surplus in an efficient, zero-emission way that fits with urban policy, hopefully inspiring other cities to implement similar pilots.
Photo credits (title picture): Canadastock/Shutterstock