Heleen Buldeo Rai, assistant professor at VUB, discusses her research into how urban logistics facilities can be good neighbours.

• Warehouses and logistics centres getting closer to the city centre
• What makes NYC an interesting city for studying urban warehouses
• Population density, strength of e-commerce and zoning
• Cross-docking operations in NYC
• Delivery activities happening at the kerb/curb
• Community ignorance of the supply chain
• Friction between local residents and e-commerce logistics
• Best practices for urban warehouses to be good neighbours
• Regulatory frameworks
• Streets accommodating personal mobility as well as delivery vehicles
• The aesthetical aspect of urban warehouses
• Eco transfer concept - consolidating urban parcels and using environmentally-friendly vehicles
• Blocks and buffers
• Organising traffic
• Urban warehouses and cities' sustainability transitions
• Reducing stem distance