Making deliveries more sustainable: 3 lessons to inspire cities in the Global South

Cities rely on urban freight to ensure that goods and services are delivered to residents, shops and other businesses when they need them. But when it comes to making urban freight in the Global South more sustainable, data availability is a major hurdle. Much of the available information is fragmented, inaccessible or disorganized. Without reliable data on how people and goods move, making informed choices about future transport planning is a major challenge.

This lack of data on freight-related issues such as the volumes and types of goods being delivered poses challenges for planning and managing urban logistics, as well as for transitioning to more sustainable ways of transporting goods. More broadly, inefficient freight movement contributes to key challenges for cities such as congestion, pollution, noise and the inefficient use of public spaces.

Without reliable data on urban freight, cities cannot craft policies that both support the urban freight sector and address these challenges. Businesses will also face significant obstacles when trying to optimize their operations on the ground.

This is a global problem, and South African cities are no exception. Organizations in both the private and public sectors are making efforts to address these challenges, however. In early 2024 the Alliance for Climate Action South Africa launched a Sustainable Transport Hub, hosted by social enterprise Local South. Convened by WWF South Africa, C40 Cities, and the National Business Initiative, the Alliance brings together actors in the private sector and subnational levels of government that are committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in South Africa.

A new report from the Alliance’s most recent meeting on urban logistics highlights three lessons on collecting, accessing and sharing urban freight data that could inspire other cities in the Global South:

The issue isn’t just a lack of data – it’s ensuring the data that is collected is useful. While high fidelity, or high-resolution data offers more precise insights, it also requires costly digital storage. Research can certainly benefit from this kind of data – for example, Wits University’s Sustainable Road Freight, South Africa project used such information to compare green tyres made with environmentally friendly rubber to conventional ones.

In contrast, commercial telematics – information-gathering technology for trucks and fleets that tracks elements like speed and use – typically capture more generalized information that's not as expensive to store. But it may not be sufficient for policy and macro-level planning.

The solution here is to identify the ultimate goal of the data. Knowing the right questions to ask guides the data collection process and ensures resources are allocated more efficiently.

South African cities face a dual challenge: accessing data, but also knowing how to use it effectively. The GoMetro Bridge app, developed locally, is working to track a variety of freight actors and to create significant efficiencies in real time. Information about dangerous goods or the size of trucks that damage public infrastructure in Cape Town would also help improve the city’s logistics.

On the government side, the provincial administration has made significant efforts to prioritize gathering freight data and to integrate it into its transport system more broadly. The City of Cape Town is also updating its freight strategy and will be able to use some of the data collected at the provincial level, including valuable information on the Cape Town port.

Sharing data across different private sector platforms and government organizations could help to create a more comprehensive approach to urban logistics, ultimately leading to better planning and more sustainable solutions.

Large retailers such as Takealot and Woolworths are working on new ways to make urban logistics more sustainable in the Global South. Both businesses have undertaken pilots to include electric trucks in their fleets. They are also trying out new delivery methods including reverse logistics, which means transporting suitable materials such as packaging back to the depot after a delivery for recycling.

Both companies have invested in last-mile delivery alternatives including electric three wheelers, such as those supplied by Mellowvans. Takealot is also collaborating with a small local enterprise focused on providing jobs for young people. Through this initiative, it hopes to help address South Africa's staggering unemployment rate, which currently exceeds 30%.

These interventions are crucial as they not only advance climate goals but also tackle deep-rooted structural challenges. And, as Woolworths told the Alliance at the recent meeting on urban logistics, other co-benefits include the lowering of noise pollution and increased road safety.

South African cities, like many in the Global South, have not always prioritized urban freight in transport planning and evaluation in the past. It is often perceived as less urgent compared to other pressing issues. But initiatives like those above and other projects, such as the World Economic Forum's ongoing work on urban deliveries, are attempting to make progress in this area.

And improving urban freight is not an isolated intervention. Challenges around passenger transport and related infrastructure are deeply intertwined with urban freight, requiring a holistic approach. In this context, collaboration between city governments and the private sector will be paramount when trying to find new ways to gather the right data to help the urban freight sector become more sustainable.