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Some manufacturers produce and sell on site. Occasionally, they make from materials found on their doorstep, be it natural resources or waste from neighbouring businesses. The majority, however, rely on logistics at some point pre- or post-production. How can we integrate intelligent transport design within cities to benefit businesses? Why does it even matter?
Why Transport Infrastructure Matters
Manufacturing depends on supply and demand. Materials to make from, staff to process them, and a consumer base to buy the goods.
Where a company situates itself depends on the cost of land, the nuisances it creates, and regulation (e.g., which activities are permitted to co-locate with residential use). What ties all these factors together is access. Transport can make or break a company, so it’s important to get location and transport links right. This almost always infers a degree of compromise.
A Question of Place
City-centre businesses are close to their client and staff bases, but congestion-busting measures aimed at reducing freight traffic (as seen in Brussels) create barriers to delivering raw materials. Air quality strategies like low-emission zones and London’s congestion charges reduce CO2, traffic volume, and pollution but create extra paperwork and cost burdens. This is an unavoidable evil for producers of perishable fresh and just-in-time products who have little choice but to be near the point of sale.
People and politicians want to see fewer heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on inner-city roads, but this affects deliveries. A London-based contractor in Haringey points out that “85% of all goods and supplies have been delivered by an HGV”. Factories on the city outskirts have different issues. They may benefit from (inter)national-linking roads, waterways, and railways on the doorstep: great for deliveries and accessibility for specialist staff who travel from afar to find suitable work but less so for low-paid labourers from the urban centre who rely on public transport, walking, or cycling. There’s a cultural consideration, too: soft mobility is not necessarily an option for older workers and people with disabilities or who have children to drop off.
We’re unlikely to find a single site that addresses all our transport needs equally, but what can be done to get a good mix?
Intelligence By Design
Contemporary ideas of urban transport pose a mixed blessing for makers. With a little insight, urban manufacturers can make better choices about where to base themselves, and city planners can (re)design and (re)develop transport infrastructure to support them.
“Manufacturers can thrive in dense inner-city areas if mobility and supply networks are available.”
A Manufacturers’ Checklist
For specialists in regional processing, Cities of Making recommends prioritising the needs of the workforce and clients over choosing the cheapest place in terms of land or logistics – a widely-subscribed practice called agglomeration economies. Companies depending on large exports may still prefer to be close to transport and distributions hubs.
Wide roads, multiple lanes, and street-side parking have long dominated street design. We built for private vehicle access – namely, cars. Nowadays, we increasingly assign space to citizen mobility and greenery. City centres are being pedestrianised. Designated cycle lanes make roads narrower. Consumers no longer benefit from stopping bays conveniently outside storefronts. Former concepts of access, turning, and loading are in flux.
Manufacturers can counteract and futureproof against the impact of these urban evolutions by:
Don’t automatically dismiss the need for road links and private parking spaces; partners and clients may expect this form of personal convenience, especially when visiting outlying business parks.
To move materials and products efficiently, manufacturers should draw up a roster for fundamental transportation requirements:
Steps for Cities
Engage local businesses. Learn about their infrastructure needs. Communicate these to network providers and include it in city plans. A city Curator is a neutral go-between perfectly suited to do this.
Encourage industrial densification, such as through vertical making. It allows diverse makers to co-locate in buildings and share available infrastructure.
Introduce policies that allow mixed-use land, frequently restricted in urban centres because of (often unfounded) assumptions of problematic by-products.
In addition to taking advantage of existing mobility networks, manufacturers can locate in proximity to partners in other specialities that are willing to collaborate: “design, communications, finance or research and development”. This prompts innovation.
Yet transport links can pose a threat through increased competition for land. Landlords envisage making a lot more money from residential buildings than manufacturing, and ready-made infrastructure is attractive to developers. If not mitigated, this can lead to two disastrous outcomes:
Public agents can buy and lease land or introduce mechanisms to protect makers from forced evictions.
Zone land close to transport infrastructure to protect it from gentrification pressures. Cluster similar nuisances to minimise proximity to and conflict with other land users.
Public agents that own land can ringfence it for manufacturing, providing added assurances.
Increase soft mobility options to redirect work traffic away from roads. Pave the way only for essential vehicle movement and create safer conditions for citizens. Be sure that bike lanes, pedestrian zones, and pathways are well lit, segregated from vehicles, and inter-connected. If they aren’t, people won’t use them.
Develop mass rapid-transit systems to prioritise the movement of large quantities of workers at speed throughout the city. This has the added advantage of expanding the suitable range where makers can locate while still offering staff “manageable home to work times (around 30 minutes)”.
Encourage makers to move into vacant high street shops with rent and land tax relief.
Offer subsidies for electric and low-impact delivery vehicles, such as cargo-bikes.
If there’s a canal running through industrial areas of the city, revitalise it.
Waterways are regaining popularity for their low-carbon, low-noise, congestion-free movability. Plus, populations like the way they look. Just ensure that businesses aren’t forced out by a wave of gentrification from those who long to look over such spaces from their window.
A Combined Effort – Logistics Hubs
A considerable number of inner-city makers are small- and medium-sized enterprises. Were each to perform their own logistics separately, this would combine to create a lot of traffic.
Centralised storage and distribution hubs allow multiple businesses to store goods elsewhere, reducing the need for and costs of space on-site.
Cities or entrepreneurs that invest in building logistics hubs in business parks and on the city outskirts, close to multiple transport links, facilitate makers’ moves towards ditching troublesome HGVs.
They can then afford low-carbon mobility instead: efficient and emission-free last mile connectivity from the warehouse, even in dense traffic, with size-appropriate electric or human-powered vehicles suited to urban conditions and climate protection policies. Subcontracting deliveries to a third party reduces the need to purchase and store vehicles.
Intelligent Transport Design in a Nutshell
Manufacturing is a vital and vibrant ingredient of a city economy. The right transport mix is essential to its resurgence and success. This in turn hangs on makers and planners stepping up to their responsibilities and recognising their options.
Producers must weigh up what’s most important in a location: people, place, or produce. Administrations should combine their efforts to improve quality of life in the city with options for accessibility and economic stability. It falls at the feet of both actors to push for the policy and funding that encourage the climate-friendly development, investment, and modality needed to build a robust and intelligent transport network.