Nine German freight villages are among the top 20. What about the other locations in Germany?

They have nothing to hide. Take the freight village in Frankfurt/Oder, for example. For many years, this location developed rather modestly. Now, however, there is a lot of momentum. The commitment of the property developer Alcaro is contributing to this. If development there continues at this pace, I can see the freight village among the top 20 in Europe in five years’ time.

Why have three locations in Berlin made it into the top 20?

Berlin West Wustermark and Berlin South Großbeeren are large in terms of area and have been established for a long time. Both are located outside Berlin, which is why they also serve the surrounding area in Brandenburg. They were also established in the 1990s, when Berlin decided to relocate its logistics activities outside the city. This was the right decision, as both GVZs are now operating at very high capacity and the economy, certainly with the appropriate support, has followed the city’s wishes. The GVZ Berlin Westhafen in the centre is significantly smaller at 45 hectares. But with Behala, there is an operating company owned by the state of Berlin that is very committed to meeting the needs of users.

Many German GVZs are literally reaching their limits because they have hardly any free space left. Is this a German phenomenon?

It is at least more pronounced in this country. The utilisation rate in many freight villages is very high, and it is often difficult to designate further areas. But this shows that freight villages are a success story and score highly as multimodal locations with their services. For freight villages, this means further consolidation and attracting companies with high added value to the limited space available. In general, careful consideration must be given to the designation of new areas, as concreting over green fields is not always the right approach from a sustainability perspective.

Why are there no GVZs in locations such as Munich or Stuttgart?

The reasons vary from region to region. Sometimes the land is not available. And in some regions, local authorities are pursuing different approaches. Take Hamburg, for example, where hundreds of logistics companies are clustered around the port and there is no traditional freight village. Nevertheless, Hamburg is a high-quality logistics location.