Logistics: the forgotten foundation of Urban Design and Planning

Amazon distribution depot, East Midlands

How new approaches to designing logistics systems could revolutionise the way we design our cities, towns and streets.

Most of us can see how logistics is changing. Online-retail has captured around 20 percent of the retail market and deliveries have become part of normal life. Recently, hyper-local delivery business have been developing in major cities around the globe which guarantee small deliveries within 15 minutes of an order being placed. This is going to have implications for urban life and urban design and planning. 

The way we design our streets and our urban areas is influenced and sometimes dictated by the requirements of the deliver vehicles. Goods are delivered to ports in 40 ft ISO shipping containers, and then transferred by articulated lorries to a chain of national, regional and local distribution depots. Waste is carried away in 32 tonne 4 axle refuse collection vehicles. At every stage, streets are designed to accommodate these vehicles. And though planning and highways policies are supposed to put people first, in many areas, it is the accommodation of delivery and waste collection vehicles that is the overweening design imperative. The result are streets and neighbourhoods that are difficult and potentially unsafe for people, and especially disabled and elderly people and children. If we could rethink and redesign the logistics systems then the design of town and cities could change too.

This event will cover

• the existing logistics systems that link factories, ports, distribution warehouses, wholesalers, retailers, offices, and homes. It is about deliveries and collections, and about the movement infrastructure including containers, palettes and cages, all of which have specific dimensions that have to be reflected in the design of the built environment.   
• the adverse effects of this system
• a new approach to logistics using a rethought distribution system, neighbourhood hubs and zero emission deliveries and collections
• how the new approach could be reflected in the planning and street design guidance

Chair

Amanda Reynolds  AR Urbanism | UDG Exec

Speakers

LOGISTICS - INFRASTRUCTURE - PEOPLE + PLACES
Robert Huxford  UDG Director

THE NEW LOGISTICS: Revolutionising the way we design towns and streets
Chris Douglas  WSP | Ian Brooker Jacobs

THE LOGISTICS THAT SUPPORT MODERN LIFE
Hannah Smart  Edge Urban Design | Gary Young  Place 54 Architects

SPECIFIC CHALLENGES: BIN LORRIES
David Milner  Create Streets

IMPLICATIONS FOR PLANNING, THE NATIONAL DESIGN GUIDE AND MANUAL FOR STREETS
Panel Discussion

Presentations