Exploring the feasibility of re-purposing car parks as last mile logistics hubs

The City of London is the historic heart of London and one of the world’s leading financial and business centres. More than 500,000 people go to work in the City (also known as the Square Mile) every day, and over 10 million tourists visit each year. The density of day-to-day activity and the negative impacts of the associated traffic – congestion, road danger, carbon emissions and poor air quality – means that the City of London Corporation needs to manage how its streets are used.

The City of London Transport Strategy includes ambitious proposals to prioritise the needs of people walking, make streets more accessible and deliver world-class public realm. Freight and servicing vehicles are considered as essential traffic, but the Corporation’s aim is to manage delivery and servicing needs efficiently and minimise associated impacts.

How we helped

Our team worked with the City of London Corporation to explore the feasibility of re-purposing some of the Corporation’s under-utilised car parks as last mile logistics hubs. The aim of a last mile logistics hub is to consolidate goods at a facility close to the delivery point (within the ‘last mile’), breaking down a large shipment of goods into smaller loads which can be made by a low or zero-emission vehicle, e.g. by cargo bike, on foot or electric van. The benefits of operating a last mile hub include improving local air quality and reducing carbon emissions; reducing congestion; improving road safety and improving operational efficiency through better utilisation of vehicles.

We pooled examples of last mile hubs and consolidation centres from the UK and overseas to identify the principles of a successful model; undertook detailed site assessments at each of the Corporation’s potential sites to understand whether the site was suitable for a last mile hub; and provided the Corporation with guidance on the specification and procurement process for appointing an operator. 

Successes and outcomes

Our initial feasibility study found that all of the sites in scope would be suitable sites for last mile logistics hubs and that re-purposing the sites into these hubs would support the Corporation’s aim of better, more efficient management of freight and servicing activity. The City of London Corporation has since released land and has gone to the market to start the process of nominating operators to deliver last mile hubs at all of the sites that we helped them to consider.