regiostars 2016 - project #171 step 1: summary of information · design to create a building that...

RegioStars 2016 - Project #171

RegioStars 2016 - Project #171 1/13

Step 1: Summary of informationProject ID 171

Status SUBMITTED

Language EN

Project Title(Max 100 characters) The urban distribution center of the city of Charleroi

Select your project category CITYSTAR

Region WALLONIA

Member State BELGIUM

Which EU Fund supported the project(Tick as appropriate) European Regional Development Fund

Programme Name Convergence

Start date of the Project (MM/YY)(Starting date must be after 01-01-2008) 01/10/2008

End date of the Project (MM/YY) 11/01/2016

Programming period 2007 - 2013

Funding sources of the project in euro(Enter value "0" if not applicable)

EU funds 2383337.12 €

National public 2979171.40 €

National private 595834.29 €

Total 5958342.81 €

http://www.regiostarsawards.eu



Step 2: Contact details

Managing Authority (or National or Regional authority responsible for managingthe relevant EU funded programme):

Managing Authority Service Public de Wallonie-Département de la Coordination des Fondsstructurels

Contact person Mr. Jean, JANSS

Country Namur

Town 5100

Address Place Joséphine Charlotte 2

Tel 003281321356

E-mail [email protected]

Social Media accounts (Facebook,Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) facebook.com: toujours plus haut website: plushaut.be

Project management

Name of the organisation City of Charleroi

Contact person Mr. Frédéric, FRAITURE

Country Charleroi

Town 6000

Address Hôtel de Ville, place Charles II

Tel 003271863932

E-mail [email protected]

Website WWW.CHARLEROI.BE/NODE/6815

Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.)

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://WWW.CHARLEROI.BE/NODE/6815




Step 3: Summary description

Summary description of the project.(maximum 2000 characters withspaces).GUIDANCE: Please keep in mind that your project description should beclearly related to the selected category.

• Over the past few years, the city has embarked resolutely on a policy of economicredeployment and urban restructuring. The city centre of Charleroi is currently the site of animpressive phase of renovation and expansion, involving a series of developments that areamong the most important in its history.• The PHOENIX project, about to end, had for ambition to join this reflection by acting mainlyon public places but also by insuring an environment of convenient quality on the return toinhabitants in town, in the development of private real estate projects and in the economicdevelopment. This ambitious project allowed the revival of the south area of the metropolis.• The improvement of the living environment went hand in hand with the decrease of thecartage of delivery in the city center. As numerous urban hearts public road networks arenarrow. The city of Charleroi is confronted with the difficult management of the deliverytrucks of the downtown shops.• The project consists of creating an Urban Distribution Centre (2000 m²) to accommodatethe goods of the retail businesses.• Business stocks will be dropped off by heavy goods vehicles before being carried by lightelectric or less polluting vehicles to the stores themselves.• One of the main ideas of the project is to provide a flexible structural and architecturaldesign to create a building that can evolve in the longterm, based on needs andrequirements. Located on the site of the former railway West station, the building is situatedbetween the metro and railway lines and close to the Charleroi ring road.• This project of Urban Distribution Centre solves the problems mentioned above. It enablesto decrease the congestion of public road networks while insuring the storekeepers anadequate and secure supply. The conception of this platform helps to improve mobility in thecity by decreasing traffic congestion due to trucks transportation. This project has thereforean impact on the city environment and air quality.

Key objectives




• Invest in an effective and sustainable supply of the city• Limit the number of trucks in the city center• Ease congestion in the urban heart• Decrease the level of pollution

Describe how they have been met

• Adapt the plan of mobility of the city center by easing the use to the UDC (imposition of thehours of deliveries, limitation of the tonnage authorized in certain zones of the city center,increase the number of pedestrian zones with activation of borders, …)• Convince the carriers on the interest of the tool• Convince the storekeepers of the city center on the benefits and the interest to use thisinnovative tool• Propose them value-added services (storage of their goods, delivery of the orders directly atthe customers, the waste management, the e-commerce)

What was the strategic context of the project?(maximum 2000 characters withspaces).GUIDANCE: This may include references to the socio economic context,relevant national or regional strategies (e.g. urban development, smartspecialisation, etc.) and references to synergies between EU and nationalprogrammes or schemes (e.g. EAFRD, EMFF, CIP/COSME, LIFE, FP56/7/Horizon2020, MEDIA, Erasmus, EIT/KICs, other)

• The problems of mobility in city centers are more and more striking; Charleroi does notescape the rule. Charleroi undergoes an extremely strong automobile pressure due toimportant motorway infrastructures. In this context, the city has just adopted a new mobilityplan encouraging residents and visitors to use ecological means of transport (subway, bus,bike, ..) and hence to reduce the pollution. The pedestrian areas are also going to know animportant growth with the development of telescopic borders in numerous districts of the citycenter. The period is thus convenient to the implementation of a tool to limit at the most thedeliveries in the city center by means of heavy, cumbersome and polluting ways oftransportation.• The project responds to the strategy of Charleroi to return the city to the inhabitants byimproving its living environment as well at the quality level of public places but also in terms




of improvement of the air quality. The project also responds to the strategy of the WalloonRegion developed through the “Alliance Emploi-Environnement” , the axis V of the “Marshallplan II.Green” in which it is planned to ease congestion in city centers by the creation ofplatforms of urban distribution for the storekeepers.





Highlight the innovative character of the project.(maximum 2000 characters withspaces).GUIDANCE: The innovative character can be linked to technology, process,service or organisational innovations. It may also be that the activity is innovativein the particular territorial context.

• Even if the concept already exists, and even if there is specifically no technologicalinnovation in this project, the Urban Distribution Center is the first one in the Walloon Region.The Flemish and Brussels experiences give evidence of the success of this innovativeinitiative. The distribution centers has been functioning well , the number of trucks in citycenters decreases as well as the level of pollution. (Cfr results of the European project LAMILOin which CITY DEPOT has participated along with the Brussels Region)• In practice, CityDepot runs a distribution center on the outskirts of the city, takes the goodsin the name of the company or of the carrier and supplies products when and where thecustomer wishes them. The objective is to supply a secure, grouped and sustainable service,with among others, battery-driven vehicles. CityDepot also offers additional services such asthe storage, the return of wasteglass, plastic, the sending of postal packages and thesolutions in the field of the e-commerce for the storekeepers and SME. This effectivedistribution - towards and from the city - is not only intended for companies and for carriers,but also for local authorities and for inhabitants.• The innovation lies both in the constructed infrastructure and in the possibilities offered tothe storekeepers and other users of the CDU to modify their practices in a commercial orenvironmental purpose. Indeed, solutions are at the moment at hand to evolve towards thedigital world and the e-commerce.• The implementation of a logistic system appropriate to every storekeeper not beingfinancially possible, the multimodal platform will also allow the storekeepers and otherpersons to release the spaces of storage and to use them for commercial purposes. This viathe implementation of a professional management of stock and a system of effectivedistribution.

What has been the impact of the project in the country, region, locality or urbanarea?What are the activities and results that can be attributed to the initiative, i.e.which would not have happened without it? Are there new (business) activities




emerging from the project?(maximum 2000 characters with spaces).GUIDANCE: Itwill clearly be easier for the Jury to appreciate the results / impacts of the projectwhere there is quantified information on the key indicators related to theobjectives. Other qualitative benefits can of course also be mentioned. It may alsobe shown through evidence that the knowledge acquired or lessons learned arebeing applied by other organisations or successor projects.

• The management and the running of the CDU having started formally on this 1st of March2016, it is today still too early to be able to measure the impact of this new activity. Only thedata related to the similar experiences in Flanders and in Brussels let think that the localexperience will be also convincing.• The arrival of CityDepot promises on top of new direct and indirect jobs in the sector of thelogistics in and around Charleroi:some 20 jobs by the year 2020 according to the planning ofCityDepot.• The effects on the mobility will be very positive: a decrease of 38,2% of CO2 emissions bythe year 2020 .• It is also a magnificent opportunity for all the users of the city center; storekeepers or anyinstitutions having its activities downtown Charleroi. Besides, it comes to strengthen thevision of strategic development which we have for Charleroi. So far, one important transportcompany has contracted with CityDepot. Thanks to the Town Center Managementassociation, some retailers have been made sensitive on the advantages of the servicesproposed by CityDepot. A general presentation should be organised soon.





What is the approach for ensuring financial sustainability of the project after theend of the EU-financed support?(maximum 2000 characters withspaces).GUIDANCE: Sustainability can be understood in terms of potential orrealised self financing, private financing or the likelihood of securing further publicsupport, e.g. for running and maintenance cost (depending on the nature of theprojects). If not applicable (e.g. for Category 5), please indicate.

• The City built the infrastructure thanks to the FEDER financing. The sustainability of theproject rests on a private contract to run a public service granted to a private enterprise, inthis particular case the Inc. City Depot. The running of the CDU quickly would soft towardsbalance. The company assumes all the exploitation risks.• This sustainability will work as the CDU allows the carriers to save up time and money.• They group the various delivery points in the city center in a single address: the CDU.• Such a system will also solve the difficulties due to the delivery schedules, to the narrowstreets, to the difficulty to reach loading quays or to the limitations of vehicles in certaindistricts.• There are many advantages whereas the deliveries in town become more and morecomplicated for the carriers. The cost of ' last mile ' is now more important than what it was10 years ago.• Nevertheless, CityDepot does not come the empty hands to Charleroi. The company alreadypossesses a wide range of clients, mainly carriers and wholesalers. These partners areenchanted to have, now, a structure in the Walloon Region for the intelligent urbandistribution. CityDepot plans to collaborate with local companies for the handling, thedeliveries and the sendings of light goods by bicycle. CityDepot is a a platform on whichseveral companies work together. Partnerships are the model business of the future..• CityDepot is the first Belgian company which offers a complete solution for the sustainabledistribution of goods towards the city center by road or by water. In Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent,Bruges, Leuven and Hasselt it has already showed its ability by applying its solution. In themiddle of the year 2015, Bpost invested an important participation in CityDepot, giving thecompany the financial breath necessary for its ambitions.

Describe the partnership and how it worked. Is there an inter-regional




dimension?(maximum 2000 characters with spaces).GUIDANCE: Partnership can beimportant both in terms of influencing the design, ownership and implementationof the project but also in terms of accumulating learning and generating concensuson policy priorities

• The City collaborates with the Town City Management association to convince thestorekeepers and other city center users to join the project and convince them to use thisnew innovative tool.• The City also benefited from the expertise of " Logistics in Wallonia ". Logistics in Wallonia isthe Walloon Pole of competitiveness for the sector of the Transport, the Logistics and theMobility.Thanks to its professionals' network in the fields of transport, logistics and mobility,Logistics in Wallonia accompanied the City for starting of the project and the running of theactivities.• The committee of strategic development (association of the lifeblood of Charleroi) alsosupported the City in its reflexions. Some members of this committee worked on the writingcall for applications and were also part of the committee of analysis and selection of theoffers.

Is an evaluation or audit report available?NO

No need to provide it at this stage. If one is available please summarise the mainmessages resulting from it.




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By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form isfactually correct and that the proposed project has not been proposed for theRegioStars Awards before and that it has not been subject to any type ofinvestigation for irregularities or fraud.

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