Future Food Supply Chain

Abstract

The Hague. The Dutch city with the most traffic congestion of all cities. Cities are growing and urban mobility is getting worse. The amount of freight going in cities is ever increasing. The way food is grown, distributed and consumed has been changed over the years. Technologies in mobility changes - think of the impact of the railroad - the behaviour of the people changed, restaurants emerged and gigantic supermarkets have a huge impact on thousands of cities. What is the impact of these trends and innovations on the built environment and how will the city respond to the next trend? With the rise of online orders, the spatial requirements our cities already changed. Within the food industry, there is a rapid increase in online grocery purchases. Picnic is the fastest growing company in the Netherlands. This trend results in an increase of movements in and out of the city. Leading to even more congestion. In the first half year of my graduation I researched the effects, the flows, the spatial requirements and the energy demand of a new proposed urban distribution centre. This distribution centre is supplied at night by cargo trams using the unused tram network. The groceries are distributed during day by an electric fleet with the shortest action radius as possible. So firstly the project creates a m ore efficient system to the the large scale mobility problem by functioning as an urban distribution centre. This results first hand in a decrease of the amount of movements within the city and the amount of motorized covered kilometres. Secondly, the building host several food related functions such as a bakery, brewery and a fully public food court. A clear synergy within the food chain is made which is totally transparent and visible for all the passers-by. To fully show the new future food supply chain, the main pedestrian pathway is elevated, avoiding the busy intersection below the building, going through the building and connecting the city centre of The Hague with its business district. So even when the food chain is digitalising and thus getting more distant to human this project shows all the processes and logistics behind your daily consumption. To get us a little bit more connected to this fast and complex chain. The project becomes a link in the city by optimising and destressing urban mobility, a link in its context by connecting two districts and a link in the food supply chain by showing the processes and background of your daily consumptions. Bon appetit.