The Study of the 5-min Walking Accessibility for Pickup Points in Thessaloniki: Enhancing Logistics’ Last Mile Sustainability

The UN World Health Organization deemed COVID-19 to be over as a public health emergency on May 5, 2023. Nonetheless, COVID-19 continues to impact every facet of human existence, encompassing urban planning. Today, e-commerce is a commonplace purchasing choice that has led to significant changes in city logistics, particularly in last-mile deliveries. Consequently, there is an increase in CO2 levels and traffic congestion. Therefore, there is need to analyse the existing and potential pick-up point networks, so to understand how easy it is for the user to pick up products and avoid home delivery. The present research focused in the central area of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. The under-study area is characterised by the presence of many pick-up points which were identified with on-site surveys. Following the calculation of the 5-min walk isochrones, it was found that there are many (mainly) lockers. In addition, their location is mainly in the central area, while they also appear, but in reduced numbers, in the pericentre. The evaluation of accessibility reveals that 50% of the residents in the central area resides within 5 min walking distance from a pick-up point while the respective percentage is about 25% of the residents when considering the pericentre. The research findings can support the design of efficient strategies directed to the service management companies. The findings can also improve the customers’ experience as far as online shopping is concerned by offering a better shopping experience, i.e., easiness to choose pick-up points, save on delivery etc.