Cities are becoming more crowded and logistical pressure is increasing. Leading up to the Logistics & Delivery Lunch Event, Bram Kin, associate lecturer at HAN University, shares his insights on what this means for organizations in the city.
Urban logistics is changing rapidly. More vehicles, less space, and stricter demands from cities are creating increasing pressure on operations.
Leading up to the Logistics & Delivery Lunch Event, we spoke with Bram Kin, associate lecturer in sustainable urban logistics at HAN University of Applied Sciences. During his session, he will show what these developments mean for organizations that rely daily on urban distribution and what choices you can already make today.
According to Bram, the problem isn't with a single system or rule, but with how we approach urban logistics as a whole. We primarily perceive transport movements as a nuisance, while they are an essential part of the city's daily functioning.
Offices require supplies, consumers place online orders, hospitality relies on frequent deliveries, waste collection keeps public spaces clean, and maintenance services ensure buildings remain functional. All these activities involve logistical movements, especially in busy urban areas.
This tension converges in the last mile. Within fixed agreements with customers and increasingly strict conditions, carriers try to organize their routes as efficiently as possible, in the part of the chain where it is most difficult.
What Bram often observes is that urban logistics is too quickly reduced to parcel delivery or retail supply. While in reality, parcel vans typically constitute only a small fraction of logistical traffic in cities.
The largest share consists of delivery vans in the service sector and construction. Think of installers, maintenance technicians, and other service-oriented transport movements. This broad mix defines the daily streetscape and makes urban logistics more complex than often assumed.
When policy and spatial planning are primarily tailored to a limited part of reality, friction arises. There is too little space to stop or unload, dwell times increase, and drivers have to divert to inconvenient locations. This increases the nuisance, while all measures are precisely intended to limit it.
Logistical pressure will continue to increase in the coming years. Research shows that the number of vehicle kilometers in urban logistics will grow by almost twenty percent towards 2035, while the available space for traffic decreases.
According to Bram, this calls for different choices. Logistics remains a structural part of the city. The challenge lies in smarter use of the available space. This means more dynamic space utilization, considering the spatial demands of logistics when designing neighborhoods and streets, and logistical models that enable greater consolidation.
The customer's role is important here. In logistics, the saying often is: you ask, we deliver, preferably at the lowest possible cost. But if we want to organize urban distribution with less nuisance, customer behavior is essential.
For large institutions, purchasers play an important role, influencing how and when supplies are delivered. An individual consumer ordering online, however, needs to be encouraged towards more sustainable ordering and collection behavior. Bram also emphasizes the role of the shipper. As the client of logistics companies, they have a direct influence on how transport is organized, because demand-side choices impact planning and transport movements in the city.
When logistics are no longer organized exclusively per organization, other possibilities emerge. Bram points to forms of collaboration where parties consolidate loads heading to the same area or share facilities such as vehicles, storage capacity, and charging infrastructure. Such models reduce empty mileage and cut costs, especially in densely populated areas.
There is also potential on the receiving end. One example Bram mentions is the joint organization of commercial waste collection within an area, which prevents multiple parallel collection routes and reduces the number of transport movements.
Sometimes the urban context forces different solutions. The supply of hospitality businesses along Utrecht's Oudegracht by boat shows how vulnerable space necessitates new logistical choices.
In other cases, clear direction helps, such as at The Hague's logistics hub where multiple buildings consolidate their supplies. Solutions like digital keys for deliveries outside opening hours also demonstrate that collaboration enables new forms of urban logistics.
During his session, Bram will show why urban logistics will only become more complex in the coming years and what that demands from organizations relying on reliable distribution. He will further elaborate on what these developments look like in practice and what role organizations themselves can play in smarter urban logistics organization.
You will gain insight into the developments directly impacting operations, the role of collaboration and space utilization, and which choices are already making a difference today.
Sign up for the Logistics & Delivery Lunch Event and hear Bram Kin's full story during his session. You'll leave with new insights, concrete examples, and a clearer picture of what's needed to organize your logistics operations for the future.
