Abstract for: Upscaling sustainable logistic solutions in dense urban areas

A vibrant city is characterized by business activity. However, offices and businesses, such as restaurants and retail stores, rely on frequent deliveries of goods. This results in a large number of trucks navigating congested urban streets during daytime hours. To reduce congestion and mitigate related externalities, while preserving the same level of service, alternative and more sustainable logistics concepts are developed and need to be upscaled. In this study, we address the challenge of upscaling sustainable urban logistics concepts, considering the diverse multi-actor context. We aim to use participatory modeling and the development of a stock-flow model to explore the effects of different policy tools the municipality can use to support the uptake, and how or whether they can generate sufficient benefits for the existing actors, relative to the incurred costs. We present a preliminary CLD, based on the findings from group model building with 26 participants. We are currently implementing a stock-flow model. Although the involved actors share the long term goal, they have conflicting short term goals. This generalizes the problem to a broader category of collective action issues that occur across disciplines, which may also suggest a wider range of solutions. Moreover, compared to previous experiences, the GMB session did not work out very well. This may be a result of the highly complex business environment that a city is.