Cargo Revolution: Reimagining Urban Logistics for a Healthier City

Ziele/Ideen

Cargo Revolution innovates by combining bottom-up cultural change with top-down policy advocacy. It reframes freight from a “back-office” topic into a vibrant public issue, using creative storytelling, social media and events to generate awareness and political pressure. The campaign doesn’t just promote behaviour change, it builds structural support by influencing regulation, securing funding, and building partnerships with both small businesses and major logistics firms. In Milan, we flipped the typical public-private dynamic by uniting companies to ask the city for stronger regulation. The campaign is one of the first to treat zero-emission freight as a public narrative challenge as well as a transport challenge, using techniques from the arts and community organising to bring attention and urgency to an often invisible sector.

Kurzbeschreibung

Cargo Revolution is transforming urban freight in Europe by shifting deliveries from polluting vans to zero-emission cargo bikes. Led by the Clean Cities Campaign, the project combines policy advocacy, creative storytelling and business partnerships to change how goods move through cities. In London, the campaign helped drive a 63% increase in cargo bike use in one year through borough-level charters, public events and support for businesses. In Milan, we launched Italy’s first Cargo Bike Day, engaging over 500 participants. A business alliance including IKEA, DHL and Decathlon committed to 100% clean urban logistics. The campaign frames freight not only as a technical issue, but as a cultural and public one—making zero-emission delivery both visible and desirable. A toolkit to scale the campaign to other cities is now in development.

Resultate

Cargo Revolution has driven measurable change. In London, cargo bike use increased by 63% between 2022 and 2023, supported by over 200 businesses now using cargo bikes in the London Bridge area alone. In Milan, we brought together a business alliance including IKEA, DHL, and Decathlon, all committing to 100% clean logistics. Our public Cargo Bike Day event attracted 500+ participants and widespread media coverage. These efforts contributed to the city advancing plans for a Zero Emission Freight Zone by 2030. The campaign raised awareness of freight’s environmental impact—vans and trucks cause nearly 50% of NO₂ emissions in Milan—and reframed clean logistics as a public good. Socially, the campaign improves air quality, safety, and accessibility, particularly for vulnerable groups, and supports small businesses with cleaner, cost-saving transport alternatives.