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Our Cities Are Getting Clogged, How Do We Unblock Them?
Some truths in life are universal. Nobody likes standing in traffic jams. Nobody likes large trucks block their favorite shopping street. Nobody likes to fill up their lungs with soot particles. Sadly, given the ever-increasing consumption of goods within city centers, we can only expect more of all that.
Urban trends give plenty of reason to worry. Aside from a world population that continues to grow at alarming rates, in a relative sense more people will start living in urban areas as well: in 2050, 84% of the European population is expected to live in urban areas¹. Most goods and services are consumed within cities, meaning more and more trucks must enter the city to cater to the needs of the people. Even now, these trucks are already responsible for 50% of urban emissions². Furthermore, consumers are increasingly picky about deliveries: everything should be delivered as fast as possible and accurately predicted to the minute, whereas higher service levels almost always imply lower efficiency. Finally, large chain stores are growing out of favor to make room for small and specialized ones. Instead of a chunk of plain supermarket cheese, we prefer a truckle of organic-dairy smoked Gouda from a specialized cheese store. When our favorite band releases a new album we have to buy it at that authentic vinyl store, even though we secretly stream it in…
