Research finds that the global market value of cargo bikes will hit 2.4 billion euros by 2031. Analysts with Future Market Insights assessing the growth of cargo bikes have placed the parcel courier industry as a key buyer of electric cargo bikes, forecasting that 43 per cent of sales could go to this industry. This growth is driven by city logistics trends, particularly as studies emerge showing the high efficiency and cost saving of the cargo bike versus the delivery van. It will not solely be direct incentives that drive uptake, however. The policy that restricts motoring and emissions is expected to be a key driver for businesses that seek profitability, with three-wheeled electric cargo bikes making up nearly half the market. The advance of e-bike technology has seen a strong rise in market share for assisted cargo bikes, now accounting for a 73 per cent market share. Potentially limiting the growth is the legislation governing the output and range of electric cargo bikes (FMI, 2021).To deal with the issues of faster delivery, clean delivery (low/zero emission) and less space in dense cities, the light electric freight vehicle (LEFV) can be–and is used more and more as–an innovative solution. The way logistics in urban areas is organized is being challenged, as the global growth of cities leads to more jobs, more businesses and more residents. As a result, companies, workers, residents and visitors demand more goods and produce more waste. More space for logistics activities in and around cities is at odds with the growing need for accommodation for people living and working in cities. Book: Innovations in Transport: Success, Failure and Societal Impacts
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In many regions, governments are motivating increased bicycle ridership by designing new and improving existing bicycle infrastructure. Cycle highways are an effective and cost-efficient type of bicycle-specific infrastructure that are designed to provide a functional connection between places where people work, go to school and live. One important element of developing high quality cycle highways is the development of an effective wayfinding system which allows current, potential, and new users to clearly identify and navigate a bicycle network. The wayfinding design standards used for conventional bicycle infrastructure may not be compatible for cycle highways, which encourage cyclists to travel at relatively higher speeds. This may warrant introducing specific wayfinding signage compatible for this new type of bicycle infrastructure. This study uses qualitative analysis including field observations, ride-along videos, and semi-structured interviews, to assess electrically assisted pedal bicycle (e-bike) users' opinions and experiences with wayfinding signage along a pilot cycle highway route located between Tilburg and Waalwijk in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2018, base-line observations and interviews were administered with twelve e-bike users who were unfamiliar with the route to assess their experiences with conventional signage for cyclists before changes were made to the wayfinding system. Follow-up observations were held in the fall, after the installation of two new pilot wayfinding systems that were specifically designed to accommodate cycle highway users. Initial findings suggest that the changes made to the location, size and clarity of the signage improve cyclists' overall experiences, and that cyclists' perceptions of the built environment are important. Specifically, it became easier for users to navigate the route, their overall travel related stress decreased, and several participants perceived shorter travel times. Policy makers and transportation planners are likely to be interested in the results of this study as they reveal how specific improvements to wayfinding along cycle highways not only help improve navigation, but also positively influence cyclists' overall comfort and stress.
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Amsterdam is known worldwide for its historical beauty, liberal lifestyle and tolerant atmosphere. With 860,000 residents (fewer than 90,000 living in the inner city), Amsterdam received 8.3 million hotel guests in 2017 and is urgently searching for ways to better manage its immense popularity. Its reputation is not a coincidence, but the result of the evolution of Amsterdam from a small urban trading centre into a prominent tourism city and destination, and that evolution forms the basis of this chapter. Overcrowding is one of the core issues affecting the city, and is not only caused by tourists. The city itself is rapidly expanding in terms of receiving more (temporary) inhabitants, commuters and Dutch day visitors. In such a context, the (perceived) overcrowding is clearly linked to urban mobility issues and is partly caused by tourists and touring vehicles. The number of (e)bikes (electronic bikes), scooters and the ‘loose’ traffic habits of locals themselves are also compounding the problem. Urban leisure lifestyles have changed in recent decades and have exacerbated the pressure on public spaces and parks, leading to overcrowding of (semi-) public spaces, increased littering and noise. This chapter uses the term ‘overcrowding’ rather than ‘overtourism’, as I feel it better reflects the root cause in the Amsterdam context. Overcrowding is described here as the process and results of an intensified use of (semi-) public space, which are perceived as disruptive forces by multiple stakeholders.
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Extending the lifespan of products can be approached in several ways. One promising way is to give users a greater sense of ownership of the products that are used. In the context of Product Service Systems (PSS), products are often used temporarily, shared with others, and offered through a technology-mediated environment. Not much is known about psychological ownership in this context. To evaluate psychological ownership affordances as an intermediate knowledge tool in the context of PSS, we started a case study focused on a bicycle sharing service of The Student Hotel (TSH). The central question was how a design approach, based on psychological ownership, can help to redesign the bicycle-service of TSH to contribute to extended lifespans of the bicycles. This resulted in ten exemplary designs as project outcomes and two implemented design interventions in a TSH branch. All project members and stakeholders (app supplier X-bike and Roetz-bikes mechanics) and students of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU) (n=42) were interviewed on process efficiency, process quality and design quality at the end of the collaboration. We performed a qualitative analysis to identify when and how the team members applied the design tool, how these obstructed or supported the design process, and if the team members show shared understanding of the behavioral and/or social consequences of their decisions. The results show both top-down and bottom-up insights, leading to four suggestions for adapting the existing model as an intermediate knowledge tool: (1) being more goal-oriented, (2) consider a hierarchy of affordances, (3) consider to add a new affordance and (4) recognize a more active role of the service provider.
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Our current smart society, where problems and frictions are smoothed out with smart, often invisible technology like AI and smart sensors, calls for designers who unravel and open the smart fabric. Societies are not malleable, and moreover, a smooth society without rough edges is neither desirable nor livable. In this paper we argue for designing friction to enhance a more nuanced debate of smart cities in which conflicting values are better expressed. Based on our experiences with the Moral Design Game, an adversarial design activity, we came to understand the value of creating tangible vessels to highlight conflict and dipartite feelings surrounding smart cities.
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Closing the loop of products and materials in Product Service Systems (PSS) can be approached by designers in several ways. One promising strategy is to invoke a greater sense of ownership of the products and materials that are used within a PSS. To develop and evaluate a design tool in the context of PSS, our case study focused on a bicycle sharing service. The central question was whether and how designers can be supported with a design tool, based on psychological ownership, to involve users in closing the loop activities. We developed a PSS design tool based on psychological ownership literature and implemented it in a range of design iterations. This resulted in ten design proposals and two implemented design interventions. To evaluate the design tool, 42 project members were interviewed about their design process. The design interventions were evaluated through site visits, an interview with the bicycle repairer responsible, and nine users of the bicycle service. We conclude that a psychological ownership-based design tool shows potential to contribute to closing the resource loop by allowing end users and service provider of PSS to collaborate on repair and maintenance activities. Our evaluation resulted in suggestions for revising the psychological ownership design tool, including adding ‘Giving Feedback’ to the list of affordances, prioritizing ‘Enabling’ and ‘Simplification’ over others and recognize a reciprocal relationship between service provider and service user when closing the loop activities.
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In a rapidly evolving world, the need for innovative approaches to societal challenges is more critical than ever. As partners of the Network Applied Design Research (NADR), we believe that applied design research can be a promising approach for addressing complex issues in many domains, such as health-care, digital media, and urban sustainability. But what makes applied design research such a power-ful force for societal change? And how can designers move beyond mere problem-solving to create lasting impact? To discuss this, NADR applies an annual knowledge cycle where researchers submit contributions that are mutually reflected upon. The contributions you can read in these preceedings are the result of such a knowledge-sharing process. The twenty-one contributions are divided into four themes, each addressing a different dimension of the issue at hand. Contributions in part 1 – Connecting System Levels - emphasise the relationship between small-scale interventions and large-scale change. Contributions in part 2 - Theory of Change - examine how change processes actually take place. Contributions in part 3 - Balancing Different Worldviews - address the unique perspective that each stakeholder involved contributes. And contributions in part 4 - Beyond Solutionism - discuss whether it is at all possible to develop ready-made ‘solutions’ to the complex challenges we are facing.
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Onze samenleving is sterk gedigitaliseerd. Het internet is de arena waarin wij werken, onze financiën regelen, boodschappen doen, waar ons sociale leven plaatsvindt en we liefde zoeken.1 Als gevolg van deze digitalisering is cybercriminaliteit in toenemende mate een probleem. De prevalentie van deze ‘nieuwe’ vormen van criminaliteit overstijgt inmiddels de ‘traditionele’ vormen van criminaliteit. Statistieken over de gehele wereld laten een vergelijkbaar beeld zien. Onderzoek laat zien dat slachtoffers van cybercriminaliteit negatieve (financiële, psychologische en emotionele) gevolgen ondervinden (bijv. Cross e.a. 2016; Jansen & Leukfeldt 2018; Worsley e.a. 2017; Reyns & Randa 2015). Deze gevolgen worden geregeld versterkt door onbegrip voor het slachtoffer, gebrek aan ondersteuning (Worsley e.a. 2017; Cross e.a. 2016; Notté e.a. 2020) en onvoldoende kennis en mogelijkheden vanuit de politie en justitie om zaken succesvol aan te pakken (Leukfeldt e.a. 2013a; 2013b; 2018). Het bestaande slachtofferbeleid is gebaseerd op kennis over en onderzoek naar de ervaringen van slachtoffers van offline criminaliteit (zie bijv. Leukfeldt e.a. 2018). Het is van belang om meer kennis over deze vormen van slachtofferschap te genereren en te delen over de hele linie van wetenschap, beleid, opsporing, vervolging en ondersteuning.
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