Logistics is an enabler of quality of life in cities: it delivers goods and services to city dwellers enabling them to enjoy all the benefits of the urban environment. There are, however, three major drivers of increased complexity of urban logistics networks that calls for a new thinking on city logistics.

First, urbanization is progressing at a high pace. While in 1950 only 54.5% of the population in developed countries was in urban areas, this number had risen to 77.7% by 2011 and is projected to reach 85.9% by 2050. Moreover, 25% of the world population and almost 60% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) will be found in the world’s 600 largest cities by 2025. Megacities, urban areas with over 10 million people, are an example of this new era of urbanization. Megacities allow us to focus in the most complex environments, but we aim for our work to be applied to urban areas of all sizes.

Second, the growth of Internet and mobile phone based electronic commerce is triggering an increasing amount of direct shipments from manufacturers and retailers to individuals. Direct deliveries do not only increase complexity of last-mile urban transportation networks, they also lead to fragmentation of shipments and higher complexity and greater need for coordination between consumers, retailers and manufacturers to distribute goods efficiently. These changes in consumer buying behaviors are a challenge and an opportunity to design future urban logistics networks.

Finally, on-going efforts from cities to invest in public transportation, limiting road access and parking spaces in favor of pedestrian and public transit infrastructure, disproportionally impact logistics operations. Since urban freight also generates an important share of congestion, pollution and other negative externalities, city logistics activities are always under pressure from regulatory actions. Private and public sector need to collaborate to find the right balance to improve the quality of life in the urban environment. Our work will bring together business, logistics and urban planning perspectives so we can develop technologies and policies that gets the most out of the limited urban space and infrastructure.