Urban Transformation

How companies are creating a more sustainable future for urban deliveries

Amid growing demand for urban deliveries, many cities globally face increased congestion, higher emissions and road safety concerns.

Amid growing demand for urban deliveries, many cities globally face increased congestion, higher emissions and road safety concerns. Image: Brett Jordan/Unsplash

Adrienne Gibbs
Lead, Urban Mobility, World Economic Forum
This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
  • Amid growing demand for urban deliveries, many cities globally face increased congestion, higher emissions and road safety concerns.
  • The World Economic Forum's Global New Mobility Coalition is uniting stakeholders across the sector to transform the last mile.
  • Several leading companies have signed an Urban Deliveries Ambition Statement, outlining a more sustainable and efficient future.

Urban deliveries are essential to modern city life, enabling consumers to access a wider range of goods and businesses. However, the growing demand for last-mile logistics presents significant challenges for cities and stakeholders.

To address this, companies across the logistics, e-commerce and retail sectors are adopting innovative solutions to create a more sustainable and efficient future for urban deliveries.

Need for change on last-mile deliveries

Since 2020, last-mile deliveries in cities have surged. Without further action, both delivery vehicle numbers and carbon emissions could rise by as much as 60% by 2030.

The recent white paper from the World Economic Forum, Transforming Urban Logistics: Sustainable and Efficient Last-Mile Delivery in Cities, underscores the urgent need for change.

As the white paper notes, consequences for cities and residents could be significant: This increase would be detrimental to public health, raising healthcare costs by 12% and leading to a 14% rise in congestion.

The increase will also negatively impact commuting. According to the report, drivers could face an extra five minutes in their daily commute, while delivery vehicles might lose up to 34 additional minutes to congestion each day. Annually, this would result in up to 30 hours of lost productivity per passenger vehicle and more than 200 hours per delivery vehicle.

Transforming urban logistics: how the system is innovating to drive change
Delivery vehicles could account for 13% of total emissions in cities by 2030. Image: World Economic Forum

Collaboration among city governments, retailers, delivery companies and technology providers will be essential to ensure that as demand for deliveries continues to grow, and sustainability, efficiency and safety remain central.

Driving change in the deliveries ecosystem

To raise awareness and showcase what is possible, leading companies from across the deliveries landscape, such as Alshaya Group, DHL Group, Hitachi ZeroCarbon, NTT DATA Group, Uber and Vammo, have outlined their commitment to working collaboratively with cities and other stakeholders to drive changes in the deliveries ecosystem, outlined in an Urban Deliveries Ambition Statement.

By embracing a collective vision, the goal is to create a more sustainable and efficient urban deliveries system by 2030. Collective action and dedication to these principles will enhance quality of life for urban residents, unlock new business opportunities, and contribute to a more sustainable future for cities.

Transforming urban logistics: how the system is innovating to drive change
Transforming urban logistics: how the system is innovating to drive change Image: World Economic Forum

So how are these companies planning to facilitate change? Transitioning to zero-emissions transport, using new vehicle modes, improved data and artificial intelligence (AI) use, and evolving business models and operational efficiency are just some of the promising opportunities that companies are leveraging to achieve more sustainable and efficient deliveries.

These efforts simultaneously create new opportunities for businesses and couriers, and deliver benefits for cities and their residents. And these interventions can have a big impact. As outlined in the white paper, those with the greatest potential impact include:

  • Adopting EVs: Replacing internal congestion engine (ICE) vans with EVs could reduce carbon emissions by up to 85%. Switching from ICE two-wheelers to e-bikes in cities could cut carbon emissions by 90% and last-mile delivery costs by 22%.
  • Embracing PUDO networks: Pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) networks use parcel shops and lockers as an alternative to traditional front-door delivery. These drop-off points can reduce the number of delivery trips by up to 15% and reduce congestion by up to 2%, They can also reduce the cost of deliveries by up to 15%.
  • Deploying strategic delivery zones: Strategically planned delivery parking zones can reduce congestion by 3% and carbon emissions by 9%.

These solutions are just some of the options available and exemplify the commitments stakeholders are making.

City support for more sustainable deliveries

While committed private-sector action is essential, city governments also have a key role to play in supporting the sector's transition to sustainable deliveries.

This support requires that cities not only engage the private sector as active partners in policy development, but they need to ensure the right enabling conditions for transition, principally by facilitating the development of public infrastructure and fostering innovation and collaboration.

For example, the development of charging and battery-swapping stations, safe cycle lanes, designated drop-off/pick-up zones, transshipment areas for active modes and hubs for delivery drivers can have large impacts on how deliveries are conducted, but require city-level authorization and, at times, financing.

Have you read?

Equally, creating an innovation environment that enables the private sector to test new technologies and business models through pilot projects can ensure these innovations are implemented and scaled more quickly.

Finally, ensuring collaboration and harmonization with regional and national governments, particularly regarding incentives for zero-emissions vehicles and regulatory changes, can help clear the way for greater private sector investment.

By taking these steps, city governments can significantly contribute to a more sustainable and efficient future.

Transition to sustainable urban deliveries is an opportunity

The transition to sustainable deliveries is not just a necessity but an opportunity for companies to innovate and lead the way in creating a better urban environment.

By embracing electrification, leveraging data and technology, collaborating with city administrations, exploring new partnerships, and fostering public-private collaboration, companies can significantly improve the sustainability and efficiency of urban deliveries.

The commitment of leading companies and supporting organizations as showcased in the Urban Deliveries Ambition Statement, is a testament to the collective effort required to achieve a sustainable future for urban logistics.

Discover

How is the World Economic Forum supporting the development of cities and communities globally?

More companies are encouraged to join this vision. Participation is crucial in driving the collective effort required to achieve a sustainable future for urban logistics.

Additionally, city governments are urged to engage and collaborate with the private sector to expand these actions across cities globally.

In 2025, the Global New Mobility Coalition will be working with selected cities, and their local stakeholders, to address key urban delivery challenges to deploy or scale solutions adapted to the local context.

Together, a more sustainable, efficient, and liveable urban future can be created.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Mobility

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Mobility is affecting economies, industries and global issues
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.

Subscribe today

Reinvention, not recovery: How Bilbao-Biscay changed its game

Ainara Basurko and Gonzalo Olabarria

February 6, 2025

2:06

Almost half of Singapore is now green space. Here’s how it became a nature-first city

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2025 World Economic Forum