by Walther Ploos van Amstel
This new paper develops a governance framework for Low- and Zero-Emission Zones (LEZs and ZEZs) tailored to cities in the Global South, using Rio de Janeiro as a case study. While such zones are widely implemented in European cities, their transfer to rapidly growing cities in developing contexts is far more complex due to institutional, …
Amsterdam maps the business case for waterborne urban logistics: it is not automatically a ‘no-regret’ option. The City of Amsterdam has been exploring for several years whether water transport can play a larger role in urban logistics. A recent exploratory cost–benefit analysis compared the societal and financial impacts of waterborne transport with road transport and …
The four largest Dutch cities are working on a covenant with parcel carriers and e-commerce retailers to gain more control over the rapid growth of parcel lockers and pickup points. Dutch newspaper FD reported this today. The trigger is the explosive increase in parcel lockers while municipalities still lack clear spatial planning policies. At the …
Urban logistics is under pressure. Cities want fewer vehicles, lower emissions, and less congestion, while home delivery demand continues to grow. The Picnic case shows that these goals are not mutually exclusive when data, operations, and vehicle technology are tightly integrated. Picnic operates one of Europe’s largest fully electric last-mile fleets, with around 4,500 custom-built …
City logistics is poised for major growth. Over the next decade, the city logistics market in the Netherlands is expected to grow from roughly €10–12 billion to €20–25 billion, with significantly higher-value-added services. This is no longer a niche play, but a full-fledged market with its own dynamics. And in the debate about zero-emission zones, …
With the new round of the Dutch AanZET subsidy now open, the electrification of heavy-duty road transport is getting another push. It is badly needed. Many carriers still underestimate how fast and how fundamentally the sector is about to change. Decarbonisation requires uncomfortable strategic choices: invest, cooperate, or outsource. Companies without a strategy risk being …
The Amsterdam metropolitan region faces a major spatial challenge. New housing, the energy transition, green infrastructure, and economic activity are all competing for scarce urban land. At the same time, the city aims to become fully circular by 2050. That immediately raises spatial questions: which circular functions are needed, how much space each requires, and …
The rapid growth of e-commerce has intensified pressure on urban logistics systems, particularly in the last mile. This segment is both the most expensive and environmentally impactful part of parcel distribution, due to fragmented routes, failed deliveries, and a lack of economies of scale. To mitigate these externalities, parcel lockers (PLs) have emerged as a …
On 9 December 2025, ALICE and POLIS jointly organised the members-only webinar “From Movers to Enablers: the role of logistics in circular supply chains”. The session brought together logistics experts, researchers, and city representatives to explore how logistics service providers can move beyond traditional transport roles and become key enablers of circular economy models. The webinar focused on the growing importance of reverse logistics in enabling reuse, repair, …
Electric Road Systems (ERS) – allowing trucks to charge while driving via overhead lines, inductive systems, or rail – are often presented as a promising solution for one of the main bottlenecks in heavy-duty electrification: large battery packs, long charging downtimes, and limited range. In theory, ERS could accelerate the shift to clean regional and …