by Walther Ploos van Amstel
For city logistics professionals, the question of where to focus last-mile investment has long been complicated by conflicting evidence. Do urban consumers drive demand for home delivery, or do rural consumers, who have less access to physical stores, rely on it more? A new study tracking US consumer behavior from 2010 to 2023 provides the …
Imagine a city where delivery trucks no longer clog your streets, where parcels, retail goods, and logistics freight glide silently through underground corridors, arriving on time, every time, without a single exhaust pipe in sight. It sounds futuristic, but a new review published in Smart Cities (2026) suggests this vision is closer to reality than …
As e-commerce continues to reshape urban life, city streets are under growing pressure. Every online order ends with a delivery truck searching for somewhere to stop. A new study published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives offers a rare look at that moment from the driver’s seat. Researchers from Oregon State University and the University of …
Summary of: Kokkinou, A., Quak, H. & Mitas, O. (2026). “Leveraging fairness to nudge consumers towards more sustainable last mile delivery options.” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 37, 101956. Every time a consumer clicks “next-day delivery,” they make a choice with real urban consequences; more vans, more congestion, more emissions. Getting consumers to voluntarily choose slower, …
As e-commerce volumes grow and decarbonisation pressure intensifies, the question of which last-mile logistics innovations are worth investing in has never been more pressing. A new peer-reviewed study published in the European Transport Research Review offers some of the most structured expert guidance to date — and the findings may surprise both logistics operators and …
Urban freight transport is increasingly at the center of policy and research debates, driven by rising e-commerce demand, urban densification, and the introduction of zero-emission zones across European cities. A recent analysis by the Dutch Kennisinstituut voor Mobiliteitsbeleid (KiM) provides a systematic and evidence-based perspective on one of the most discussed solutions: urban consolidation centers, …
The 14th International Conference on City Logistics will take place from 19–21 May 2027 in the Algarve, Portugal. Following the 2025 edition in Penang, this conference remains a leading global platform for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in urban freight and city logistics. The conference will be hosted at the Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort …
E-commerce has changed urban logistics fundamentally. Orders are smaller, destinations are more dispersed, and customers expect fast delivery within narrow time windows. The result is familiar in many cities: more vans on the streets, lower vehicle utilisation, and increasing pressure on urban space. In his recent PhD research, Fabio Mercurio explores how delivery companies respond …
The Dutch construction sector purchases nearly 49 million tonnes of materials annually (excluding soil, sand, and clay), while only about 20 million tonnes become available from demolition and renovation. Demand is therefore roughly 2.5 times higher than the sector’s own secondary supply. This structural gap lies at the heart of the circular construction challenge. Recent …
A comparative routing-based analysis shows that battery electric vehicles are most efficient for short and medium urban routes, while hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are better suited for longer inter-urban missions. Decoupled logistics models using micro-hubs and cargo bikes reduce curbside occupation by up to 80%, significantly improving public-space efficiency. Sustainable urban freight transitions require combining …