by Walther Ploos van Amstel
European cities have no shortage of pilots for cleaner and smarter urban freight. The real challenge is turning promising experiments into lasting logistics solutions. The GREEN-LOG project offers useful lessons on how to do that. Its new Policy Recommendations brochure brings together three years of experience from Living Labs in Athens, Barcelona, Flanders, Oxfordshire and …
A new paper presented at IPIC 2026 (Errami, Hashemi-Petroodi, Puchinger, Klibi) tackles a problem central to the Physical Internet vision for cities: how do you actually get competing logistics providers and public transport authorities to share infrastructure, not just talk about it? The model, developed under the EU MODALSHIFT project and tested on a real …
Europe is pushing hard for a sustainable, smart, and inclusive transport system. The logic is straightforward: if we want cleaner cities, resilient supply chains, and competitive logistics, we need better coordination across modes, across borders, and across public–private boundaries. Digitalisation is the lever, and data spaces are becoming the infrastructure behind it. Step 1 — …
The construction sector is entering a strategic inflection point. Climate adaptation, housing demand, sustainability regulation, material scarcity, energy transition, mobility decarbonisation, and spatial constraints are converging. This combination makes one thing clear: linear construction is no longer viable. The Interreg ASSET project examined how a circular built environment can be spatially, logistically, and economically implemented in Europe, …
Cities are constantly in motion. New housing developments, new and redesigned streets, and growing logistics flows all require innovative solutions to keep the city traffic-safe, liveable, and sustainable. The Local Traffic Monitor, developed by Antea Group together with the municipalities of Rotterdam and The Hague and the Topsector Logistics, offers precisely that: an objective instrument …
Universities across Europe face a growing challenge: how do we equip students, engineers, designers, economists, social scientists with the skills to navigate the environmental, economic, and social complexities of the plastics transition? As plastic production is expected to more than double by 2050, and recycling systems lag far behind, the need for systemic thinking has …
E-commerce and new delivery trends are reshaping how our streets are used — and how they feel. Delivery vans, cargo bikes, and couriers now compete for curb space that was once reserved for pedestrians, cyclists, and social life. The rise of last-mile logistics is no longer just a transport or technical challenge; it’s an urban …
The Seattle SMART project, led by the University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), examines how digital technologies can enhance the efficiency of the “last mile” of urban deliveries. Funded under the US Department of Transportation’s Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) program, the project explored how curbside space …
Major food and grocery delivery platforms today launched an industry-led alliance to accelerate the shift to zero-emission food and grocery deliveries. The UN Deliver-E Coalition aims to switch to zero-emission two- and three-wheeler vehicles globally. The founding Members of the Deliver-E Coalition – Delivery Hero, DoorDash, iFood, Mr D, Swiggy, Uber, Wolt, and Zomato — are …
Can city deliveries be made quietly, emission-free, and stress-free? Hamburg is testing exactly that. As part of the InnoWaTr project’s Freight Flow Coalition No. 3, the city launched its first pilot runs using fully electric boats on the Alster lake and canals. The pilot was carried out by Logistics Initiative Hamburg and TOP Mehrwert-Logistik, in …