In the urban domain, high rise buildings represent an efficient solution for the current housing shortage and coping with a lack of available space to develop real estate. However, due to the floor plan and heavier structural characteristics, high rise buildings will experience more difficulty and challenges than other types of construction in meeting the necessary emission reductions and MPG building codes that will become more strict in the years to come. Industrial, modular and biobased construction solution for building, renovation and transformation of high rise buildings are deemed to more efficient, and thus should cause less construction process related emissions. The assumption for the research is threefold: 1)Industrial and modular construction enables customized dimensions and reduced weight of 2D and 3D building elements, and thus more efficient and lighter transport. 2)Biobased material use causes further weight reduction and therefore fewer emissions from fossil logistics, and increased options to apply zero emission vehicles and equipment. 3)Circular solutions support the reuse of more local and regional secondary material, and will thus lead to less transport movements and distance travelled to source new materials. In this research we have investigated the application and contribution of multifunctional construction hubs in and around cities to support zero emission processes for high rise building. The hubs will not only consolidate materials transports but also coordinate efficiently multimodal transport flows to and from construction sites, applying digital tools and systems as a control tower for local and regional construction transport. They will also support electric transport charging, enable production and assembly of prefab building parts, and apply locally and regionally harvested circular materials. The research tested various scenarios for building design and hub network layout and their quantitative effects on logistics and emissions. Further qualitative assessments found requirements for local authorities and market parties to make explicit and adopt parameters, effects and emission reduction potentials of logistics in their processes and policies. Governments should focus their policy instruments on stimulating and enforcing these emission reductions and other urban effects such as road damage, safety and hindrance as a result of construction transport movements in and around cities. Governments should enable and encourage their local industrial and logistics clusters and business parks to establish multifunctional zero emission construction hubs. Clients and developers must be encouraged through local rules and frameworks such as emission based land allocation and tendering (EMVI). This should lead to designers taking material weight, size, modularity and circularity into account in their designs. This abstract is based on the work done in Work Package 3 ‘Optimalisatie bouwprocessen’ of the project ‘Geïndustrialiseerde modulaire en lage emissie hoogbouw in de G4’ funded by the ‘Schoon en Emissieloos Bouwen’ (SEB) programme of the Ministry of the Interior

The increasing volume of urban parcel deliveries has intensified the demand for efficient last-mile logistics solutions. Despite the promise of recent technological advancements, their comprehensive influence on sustainability is not yet clear and, in certain instances, may even be counterproductive. Small businesses aiming to offer delivery services encounter notable hurdles, particularly in terms of scalability and operational efficiency. This study critically examines crowdshipping as an innovative delivery method in urban logistics, focusing on key success factors that have the potential to redefine last-mile delivery services. In the current urban logistics landscape, various specialised last-mile services contribute to market segmentation, with their cumulative impact on sustainability remaining unclear. Crowdshipping, however, emerges as a potential paradigm shift, offering insights into its capacity to optimise last-mile delivery services. The study examines the role of user trust in relation to crowdshipping platforms, offering a thorough analysis of the complexities on the demand side inherent in this innovative model. On the supply side, the research delves into the potential of crowdshipping to generate additional trips in the urban areas. Moreover, the research identifies markets that could be suitable for outsourcing to independent crowdshipping entities or platforms. This comprehensive analysis of crowdshipping success factors aims to provide practical insights for stakeholders in the urban logistics sector. Understanding of user trust dynamics, trip generation propensities, and market opportunities is instrumental in conceptualising sustainable and efficient last-mile delivery solutions in crowdshipping.

Purpose The deployment and uptake of cargobikes for last mile deliveries in urban areas is widely studied. This is partly driven by regulations by municipalities to reduce emissions from urban deliveries. In the Netherlands, for instance, zero emission zones for all logistics vehicles will be gradually implemented in 30 40 cities from 2025 on. In addition, urban planning increasingly focuses on more space for active mobility, which leads to a reduction in road infrastructure. Subsequently, there is an interest in deploying tailored and smaller vehicles to retain access to areas. Furthermore, the promise of short – 10 minute to same day – deliveries requires retailers to maintain stock close to the final consumer, often within dense urban areas. Cargobikes require less parking space and can deliver quickly to consumers with less constraints. Most studies focus on the financial and operational feasibility of deploying cargobikes instead of vans in urban areas. Whereas in the case of the former, total cost of ownership analysis are mostly conducted, the latter looks at the network design, including the location of (micro)hubs (e.g. Assmann et al., 2022; Dalla Chiara et al., 2020; Schliwa et al., 2015). In the majority of the studies, the emphasis is on parcel deliveries. This study discusses the potential penetration and requirements of (all) types of light electric freight vehicles (smaller than a van) for deployment in urban areas for different flows of goods and services. In this way, we extend prior studies by addressing three previously underexposed aspects. First of all, a growing diversity of light electric freight vehicles appears in urban areas. This varies from the regular cargobikes to electric cargo mopeds, tricycles, and small electric distribution vehicles. These different vehicles are considered for different applications. Second, the diversity in flows – so-called segments – is considered. In addition to parcel deliveries, typical flows include fresh goods (groceries, instant meals) to consumers and businesses, construction goods, and service-driven movements (e.g., plumbers). Finally, the requirements that stakeholders related to these different flows have when it comes to adopting those vehicles are addressed. To assess the potential uptake of light electric freight vehicles we have conducted 27 interviews across four different stakeholder groups.

Within the context of the climate change adaptation and mitigation plans, the Netherlands is intensifying efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This pursuit requires substantial investments in energy infrastructure, which poses challenges in terms of cost and spatial feasibility. Spatial planning plays a pivotal role in shaping the built environment and, consequently, influencing the energy system. Currently, a critical gap exists in understanding the relationships between energy infrastructure and built environment characteristics, hindering effective spatial policy formulation. This research addresses this gap through a comprehensive spatial analysis of South Holland, aiming to uncover the intricate interplay between energy and built environment features to answer the following research question: “How can different sets of characteristics be used in spatial clustering to identify the relationship between the energy system and the built environment for use in spatial planning?”. First, we identify key characteristics, including energy supply and demand, land use, building typology, and social factors through a literature review and interviews with experts from energy and spatial planning fields. These characteristics are grouped with different priorities: (1) Energy (2) energy and built environment (3) energy and social (4) all characteristics. Then, using a Machine Learning algorithm, k-prototype cluster analysis, each group of characteristics is clustered to explore the relationships between the energy infrastructure and built environment characteristics in South Holland. The results reveal that while the final spatial energy clusters exhibit some overlap between the group of characteristics, they also successfully highlight the differences between cities in South Holland. For example, a notable correlational relationship exists between the rental housing and the electricity demand of households which revealed itself in the social cluster analysis. Another common trend between the clusters is that housing density and total heat demand are linked to each other. On the other hand, significant differences are observed between urban and rural or peri-urban areas within the groups of characteristics from the energy and build environment clusters and social clusters. Our results emphasize that the cluster analysis is suitable for providing exploratory insights into the energy system and built environment relationship. The clusters generated can serve as a foundation for informing decision-making in spatial planning. The findings underscore the potential of this approach in analyzing the complex dependencies between energy and landscape for developing evidence-informed spatial policies.