Introduction Growth in last-mile deliveries Since 2020, last-mile deliveries have surged, in large part due to the significant increase in e-commerce, with sales reaching $5.8 trillion in 2023 and expected to increase by 39% by 2027.2 This growth is attributed to factors including urbanization, rising incomes, changing consumer behaviour and technological advances,3 with COVID-19 accelerating some of these trends. The result is that e-commerce has substantially outpaced traditional retail, bringing with it economic benefits and greater choice and convenience for consumers. However, growth in online retail and quick commerce has caused the number of delivery vehicles in cities to surge. Without further intervention, the number of these vehicles could increase by more than 60% globally by 2030, exacerbating congestion, emissions and safety issues, and therefore affecting the liveability of cities. For a city such as Sydney, for example, this might mean an additional 10,000 vehicles on the road, including trucks, vans and micromobility, such as pedal and electric bicycles and scooters. For a city like Bengaluru, this could mean a 76% increase in transport emissions. Retailers selling in multiple online and physical channels are using inner-city stores to hold decentralized inventory closer to consumers, enabling same- and next-day delivery and local pick-up for online orders. Grocery retailers are prominent in quick commerce, with online-only models served by growing numbers of dark stores (small warehouses used for fulfilling online orders) embedded in local communities, contributing substantially to the 290% growth in quick-commerce deliveries since 2019.4This paper examines the future of urban deliveries, highlighting collaboration opportunities for the public and private sectors. Consumers now expect faster deliveries as standard – and this trend is here to stay. Defining the “last mile” “ Last-mile delivery” is defined as the transportation of goods such as packages, groceries, prepared meals and bulky deliveries from the final transportation hub in the supply chain, or, in the case of prepared meals, from where food is prepared. The actual distance of the last mile can vary significantly. For traditional courier and express parcel operators, this may typically be the last 15–20 kilometres,5 given the out-of-town nature of many distribution centres. For groceries and prepared food, the distance is typically much shorter, as orders are fulfilled from stores within the urban centre. 5 Transforming Urban Logistics: Sustainable and Efficient Last-Mile Delivery in Cities

Transforming Urban Logistics 2024