Newsletter from November 2023
InterLog: sustainable and efficient parcel deliveries
Current parcel deliveries in cities like Munich take up too much space, take too much time and are not sustainable due to their high emissions.
This raises the question of how parcels can be delivered more efficiently on the urban last mile, especially against the backdrop of increasing urban densification and the goal of CO2 neutrality.
As part of the MCube project, InterLog is investigating the extent to which concepts such as parcel stations or distribution by means of cargo bikes can play a central role here and improve the delivery of parcels.
With parcel stations, delivery is decentralized: customers pick up their parcels directly, which reduces direct trips by delivery vehicles to the front door. In the case of delivery via cargo bikes, parcels are distributed from delivery vehicles to cargo bikes in small distribution centers within the city - so-called micro-depots - and then delivered with these.
Will such options make delivery faster, more flexible and more sustainable than direct delivery with large delivery vehicles?
To answer these questions, our first step is to develop various business models for the different options. In a simulation environment, we are investigating whether, for example, parcel delivery via cargo bikes can be profitable for logistics companies or where improvements are still needed.
Based on this, we are developing a detailed and efficient algorithm to identify the optimal locations of micro-depots and the routes of the cargo bikes from these depots to the delivery point.
We also take a detailed look at the micro-depots: How should the processes here be designed? How big do the depots need to be and what layout should be used?
Finally, we are building a test micro-depot in Munich to measure the speed, flexibility and emissions of parcel delivery.
Our aim here is to show what the urban logistics of the future can and should look like: decentralized, space-saving and sustainable through the use of parcel stations and cargo bikes instead of large delivery vehicles.
Develop the next mobility innovations for metropolitan regions. Together. Possible. To make it happen.
In 2025, representatives from various municipalities regularly met as part of a Community of Practice to exchange ideas on meaningful practices with urban data for sustainable mobility.
A recent study from the ReMIX environment investigates, through urban experiments in Munich, how specific mobility futures are made effective by three central performative mechanisms.
How can questions of equitable mobility be jointly researched and shaped? The seminar „Planning for Mobility Justice“ at the TU Munich highlights different perspectives on mobility (in)justice.
How can mobility innovations be designed responsibly — and what political frameworks are needed for this?
At re:publica 2026 in Berlin, MCube was represented at Europe's largest digital and society conference – with all 21 cluster and campus initiatives of the BMFTR.
5,000 guests, many insights: TUM's Sustainability Day made sustainable innovation tangible.
MCube Consulting is introducing SmartEvent, a digital tool that makes event registration in Munich easier and more efficient through the use of geodata.
The new study shows: Every euro invested in public transport in the MVV generates almost four times the economic value added.
Electric, autonomous, networked: The logistics industry is facing a major transformation. The MCube Speaker Series at the Deutsches Museum discussed how this future can become reality.
What is MOSAIQ?
Imagine something: There is more space for people. The streets have more trees and plants. Everyone can get around better. That's how your Schwabing-West district could be in the future. How would you like your district to be? We want to talk to you about it!
The project is called MOSAIQ. MOSAIQ is a research∙project. MOSAIQ means: Mobility and urban climate in the future city∙part. The Technical University of Munich is leading the project.
What is MOSAIQ about?
MOSAIQ wants to make the streets in the city∙part more beautiful. People should feel comfortable there. There should be more space. For meetings and plants, for example. You can help decide what is tried out in the Stadt∙teil. The ideas come from you. Some ideas will be tried out on the streets for a certain period of time.
The aim of MOSAIQ is to make urban districts good places to live.
At the same time, the climate in the city should improve. And people should be able to move around the city easily.
What is happening in the district?
