Logistics: The forgotten foundation of urban design and planning
More than 100 people joined this webinar on logistics; its objective was to explore the implications of accommodating contemporary logistics facilities in new design guidance.
Robert Huxford began with a historic perspective on how urban design has been dominated by the requirements of increasingly large logistics vehicles, and the need to rebalance road design for a broader range of users in the forthcoming Manual for Streets. Ian Brooker and Chris Douglas (Jacobs and WSP respectively) presented innovative technologies for revolutionising street design for more sustainable use. Hannah Smart (Edge Urban Design) and Gary Young (Place 54 Architects) presented alternative local, bottom-up visions of how to incorporate localised distribution hubs. Waste management was also included, and David Milner (Create Streets) joined the discussion.
This event was very successful as Amanda Reynolds, a lively chair, involved participants throughout the presentations. The chat also provided a great source of ideas, examples and references.
The highlights were the large number of practical and pragmatic solutions put into practice during the pandemic to accommodate greater logistics activities under very constrained conditions. Speakers showed how both high and low tech solutions were implemented even before the pandemic, strategically in large cities, at the neighbourhood level and in different environments. Creating local logistics neighbourhood hubs involved local volunteers, but there was also recognition of existing roles like convenience shops, which provide space for collection, or the need to revive similar functions, held by sub-post offices in the past.
The proposals put forward were with the awareness that, for example, communal bins needed communal behaviour, allocating parking spaces for more communal uses would encounter resistance, and current statutory rules for the use of the public realm may restrict such alternatives. Nevertheless, the belief was voiced that we can create the future, and do not have to just accept it.
Selected references from the chat:
- Robot system in Milton Keynes
READ MORE - Underground delivery in Kings Cross London
READ MORE - Neighbourhood logistics hubs
READ MORE - Volunteer engagement in hubs
READ MORE - Initiatives in Cork city
READ MORE - Smaller vehicles for waste collection, mobility hub guidance
READ MORE - Combining delivery with other sustainable activities
READ MORE
Judith Ryser, researcher, journalist, writer and urban affairs consultant to Fundacion Metropoli, Madrid
As featured in URBAN DESIGN 160 Autumn 2021
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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
See event page for more info and recording of presentations