How the Rise of Delivery Culture is Changing Urban Design

City curbs, originally built to support drainage and delineate the edge of streets versus sidewalks, are becoming a hotly contested piece of urban real estate as delivery vehicles, shared bikes and scooters, ride hailing cars, transit buses, and other vehicles vie for space to move, stop, and park. 

In a piece for the Congress for New Urbanism’s Public Square, Andrés Franco traces the changes that curbs and curbside space have gone through. “Today, the curb plays a critical role in supporting business, public transit, bike infrastructure, last-mile deliveries, waste collection, outdoor dining, and more.”

In recent years, a boom in e-commerce and home deliveries for everything from meals to toothpaste has changed the calculation for cities. “These challenges are not just design problems, they require coordinated, comprehensive strategies that align urban design with policy tools like updated regulations, pricing mechanisms, and enforcement.”

Franco outlines several strategies cities are undertaking to better manage their curb space. New York City is setting up on-street microhubs where delivery vehicles can offload packages to smaller cargo bikes or vans. “In addition to microhubs, some cities are experimenting with dynamic curb pricing and time-based restrictions to better manage demand and discourage double parking during peak hours.” 

For Franco, “ The curb is no longer a passive, overlooked boundary, on the contrary, it’s an active, multifunctional space of the street that requires intentional design.” It requires flexible, adaptable infrastructure that recognizes the many uses for curb and street space beyond moving and storing cars.