Shaping the Next Decade: Urban Freight Growth and the Future of Industrial Land

Abstract

Urban freight has transformed dramatically in just six years, with 2020 acting as an accelerant that reshaped the decade ahead. As cities evolve, transport and land‑use pressures are unavoidable, and they directly determine how efficiently freight can move.

This presentation explores the realities and opportunities facing cities like Greater Sydney and outlines how government and industry can respond— designing urban freight systems that are productive, efficient, and supportive of the people who rely on them. When freight works well, its discrete and cost‑of‑living improves.

Delivering this outcome demands a strategic, network‑wide perspective and policy settings that allow urban freight tasks to be optimally designed across economic, social, and environmental dimensions.

Biography

Michael is a career logistician with more than three decades of experience shaping freight systems across Australia and international markets. As the Urban Freight Lead at Transport for NSW, he spent 11 years driving the freight components of the CBD Transformation Program and embedding freight efficiency into all levels of urban planning. He led the development of the Last‑Mile Toolkit and delivered multiple initiatives that improved freight performance in complex city environments. His earlier career spans logistics roles in Australia, Europe, South‑East Asia, and the Middle East, giving him a global understanding of freight challenges and solutions.

Today, Michael continues to advance the field through consulting, research, and publication, contributing practical insights and thought leadership to the evolving discipline of urban freight.

Seminar snapshot

By Chia-jung (Robert) Yeh, ITLS PhD student

Rapid growth in e-commerce and delivery is reshaping urban freight and intensifying pressure on transport networks and industrial land. Drawing on Australian and international evidence, this seminar investigates how parcel growth, consumer service expectations, and declining supplies of industrial land are increasing delivery distances and last-mile operating costs, creating compounding freight challenges.

The seminar highlighted three interconnected problems. First, the last mile is becoming operationally demanding and more expensive. Second, freight operators work within increasingly constrained urban environments while managing economic, environmental and community expectations. Third, freight demand and technology are evolving more rapidly than planning systems and regulations.

To address these challenges, this seminar provided a comprehensive review of measures implemented worldwide and their potential. Large automated distribution centres provide economies of scale, while microhubs bring freight closer to customers. Parcel lockers located near public transport and frequently visited destinations can reduce dedicated delivery and collection trips. Cargo bikes, delivery robots and electric freight vehicles offer opportunities to improve last-mile efficiency and reduce emissions. Automation is considered one solution; however, it cannot eliminate the human role in last-mile delivery, which involves unpredictable buildings, customers, and access conditions. Therefore, delivery personnel should be recognised less as drivers and more as specialists who solve complex service and access problems. In addition, operational innovations should be supported by appropriate regulation and infrastructure, such as loading-zone information and dynamic kerbside management, to reduce parking searches and excessive walking distances. Therefore, freight should no longer be treated as a secondary consequence of urban development, but must be embedded in the planning of new buildings, transit-oriented developments and mixed-use precincts.

This seminar concluded that no single technological solution can address the growing complexity of urban freight. Instead, effective freight systems require an integrated combination of land-use planning, infrastructure provision, supportive regulation, data-driven management, operational innovation, and collaboration among governments, planners, communities, and industry. Overall, future urban planning must recognise freight as an essential urban service and develop flexible logistics networks that can accommodate continued growth while improving efficiency and sustainability.