Edinburgh Napier University

  This chapter presents a definition of Urban consolidation centres (UCCs) and an overview of their activities and service offerings. It descibes a case study of a successful UCC in Gothenburg, Sweden followed by a reflection on the challenges of setting up a UCC. The chapter focuses on the first kind of UCC, serving all or part of an urban area and usually specialising in retail products. The Gothenburg UCC was part of two funded research projects. The first was the Sendsmart project, financed by the national funding body Vinnova and running from 2012 to 2014. The second project was the SMARTSET project which ran from 2013 to 2016 and was partially funded by the Intelligent Energy – Europe II Programme. The UCC uses its own vehicles to deliver to the retailers in the city centre area.