City logistics

The number of catering establishments in the city is increasing, as is the amount of construction and renovation work and online shopping by consumers and businesses. Shipments are getting smaller and competition demands they are delivered in ever-shorter time frames. As a result, more and more business vehicles are filling up city centre and residential area streets. This negatively impacts liveability, due to traffic congestion, unsafe roads and unhealthy air.

Smart city logistics

The City Logistics research group conducts practice-oriented research into the opportunities for smart city logistics. Clean, less – e.g. by smart bundling of goods transport – and innovative are the starting points here. Key research themes are the use of zero-emission vehicles (including light-electric), catering supplies, waste collection, construction logistics, service logistics and public procurement. This research group will investigate new business models, smart logistics concepts, innovative technology, city hubs and public policy.

The professor

Walther Ploos van Amstel - with a PhD from the Free University Amsterdam on organising logistics controls - has been Professor of City Logistics since September 2014. He is also a member of the steering committee of the Green Deal Logistics in Construction and the Green Deal Zero Emission City Logistics and ambassador for PraktijkProef Amsterdam (traffic management). “Several cities have now implemented zero-emission policies, in part due to insights from our research,” he says.

Education

The City Logistics research group involves students in research, for example through graduation internships. This group also provides education in the form of lectures and tutorials as part of the curriculum of the Logistics Management and Logistics Engineering programmes.

Partners

The City Logistics research group works with a variety of practice partners, knowledge institutions (universities and TNO) and the Top Sector Logistics programme. The researchers are also involved in international projects such as Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework (2021-2027).