Located between Brussels and Antwerp, the Flemish city of Mechelen (87,000 inhabitants) has become a frontrunner in sustainable urban development. With a compact, historic centre, narrow streets, and ambitious zero-emission goals, Mechelen is actively rethinking how goods are delivered to its citizens and businesses. With the Covenant for Sustainable Urban Logistics, Mechelen (one of URBANE’s Follower Cities) aims for zero emission deliveries by 2030, making clean, efficient, and shared logistics solutions a top priority.
Greening deliveries in a growing city
E-commerce growth and rising delivery demand are putting pressure on Mechelen’s streets, where vans and trucks compete for scarce space with cyclists and pedestrians. To respond, the city is experimenting with new ways to organise last-mile logistics, including shared hubs, zero-emission delivery vehicles, and multi-operator parcel lockers. The latter are already present in Mechelen, but currently dominated by one operator. In line with federal regulations introduced by Minister Petra De Sutter, Mechelen aims to pioneer an “open locker” model, allowing multiple logistics players to access the same infrastructure.
Planning for long-term resilience
Mechelen’s logistics ambitions are structured around three main goals:
- Making better use of space: Space for logistics in the historic city centre is extremely limited. Mechelen is studying how microhubs, cityhubs at the edge of the city, and shared locker systems can reduce the number of vans in the centre while keeping services reliable.
- Supporting the transition to zero-emission logistics: Many small and medium-sized businesses lack the resources to switch quickly. Mechelen is working to support logistics providers and retailers in adopting cleaner delivery methods, while aligning with Flemish and European funding opportunities to cover transition costs.
- Balancing accessibility with liveability: The city aims to maintain a vibrant retail environment and good accessibility for residents, while reducing congestion and improving air quality. Coordinating delivery times, expanding cycling-based logistics, and optimising use of lockers are part of this strategy.
Delivering differently
Through the URBANE project, Mechelen is turning its ambitions into reality by piloting an open-access locker network, integrated with local retailers and cyclo-logisticians. The city is also engaging stakeholders – from logistics companies to neighbourhood associations – to ensure solutions are not only efficient but also socially accepted.
A model for Flemish cities?
With its compact size and forward-looking policies, Mechelen is positioning itself as a laboratory for shared, zero-emission urban logistics. By unlocking existing infrastructure, fostering collaboration, and leveraging European partnerships, the city hopes to offer a replicable model for medium-sized cities across Belgium and beyond.