Urban freight - New field of intervention for the engineer

Freight transport, essential to the smooth running and dynamism of cities, has long been considered a necessary evil. Indeed, it is a major contributor to pollutant emissions, congestion and noise in cities. But it also provides jobs that cannot be relocated, and helps maintain economic activity in city centers. Although these challenges to the urban environment are well identified by local authorities, the multiplicity of players involved, both in the institutional and economic spheres, and the overlapping of skills, make this a complex subject to tackle.

Faced with the multiplicity and heterogeneity of urban players, those responsible for steering urban goods policy lack knowledge, which sometimes provides an alibi for inaction.

Multiplicity and heterogeneity also offer great opportunities. A number of major players have yet to enter the field of urban logistics, which for too long has been the exclusive domain of researchers. City builders, for example (architects, urban planners, designers, etc.), will undoubtedly help to move from the technical to the public sphere.