CARGOCONNECT-AUGUST 2025 - Flipbook - Page 26
COVER STORY : NEW URBAN EQUATION
R K NARAYAN
President of Strategy and
Business Development,
Horizon Industrial Parks
DALJIT SINGH
Marketing Director,
NDR InvIT Managers
Mixed-use industrial
complexes bring warehousing
closer to urban retail hubs
and enable forward retailing –
helping efficient management
of store level inventory,
maximise the use of display
and experience spaces,
while being able to serve the
customer specific requirement
of a particular SKU quickly.
They enable fulfilment,
micro-warehousing, and retail
consolidation from a single,
agile location. These spaces
often integrate value-added
services to support Q-com
turnaround expectations.
Backed by initiatives like
GatiShakti and smart city
missions, new-age industrial
hubs are designed as
self-sustaining ecosystems—
merging warehousing,
commercial, residential, and
mobility infrastructure. As cities
expand, industrial real-estate is
moving closer to consumption
centres, transforming
peripheral zones into highvalue micro-economies. These
developments reduce urban
sprawl, balance traffic flows,
and promote decentralised
growth, thereby redefining
the real-estate blueprint of
modern cities.
26 | CARGOCONNECT AUGUST 2025
possible by these mixed environments. “Mixed-use
parks create a seamless interface between Q-com and
retail by blending warehousing, logistics, and storefront
capabilities within a single ecosystem,” he states.
At the infrastructure level, Singh points to the
presence of real-time inventory systems, faster picking
protocols, and embedded digital frameworks—all of
which enable the 15–30 minute delivery benchmarks that
are now common in dense metros. This collocation of
logistics and consumer-facing touchpoints also unlocks
hybrid service models: in-store pickup, same-day
delivery, and returns from a common node. Beyond
consumer convenience, Singh emphasises that mixed-use
parks are structured with sustainable operations in
mind—featuring shared utilities, dedicated green areas,
and optimised transportation corridors that support
consolidated movement and reduced emissions.
Anshul Singhal, Co-Founder and Managing
Director of Welspun One, cites mixed-use parks
as a critical response to the demands of a click-昀椀rst
economy where instant and scheduled demand converge.
“Mixed-use logistics parks are offering integrated
infrastructure that support both high-speed delivery
and large-scale ful昀椀lment,” Singhal says. While dark
stores remain essential to the Q-com model, he believes
the real transformation lies in the ability of these parks
to handle variable delivery speeds and modes.
Referencing Cushman & Wake昀椀eld’s Waypoint
2025 report, Singhal notes that online retail is the
fastest-growing segment globally and, combined
with retail distribution, accounts for over 50% of
industrial leasing activity. “Mixed-use parks facilitate
this by combining urban dispatch nodes with larger
fulfilment hubs, enabling businesses to run agile,
tech-driven supply chains that serve both instant
and planned demand,” he explains, and further adds,
“They also provide shared infrastructure, improved
connectivity to arterial roads, and zoning 昀氀exibility,
allowing retailers across formats to co-locate, share
resources, and scale e昀昀ectively.”
Evidently, the rising signi昀椀cance of purpose-built,
mixed-use parks is transforming the delivery and retail
landscape. No longer just logistical hubs, these parks
have evolved into dynamic operational nexuses that
seamlessly connect the physical and digital realms of
commerce—rede昀椀ning how, where, and when products
reach the urban consumer.
HOW INDUSTRIAL HUBS
ARE REDEFINING URBAN REALESTATE DYNAMICS
The emergence of next-generation industrial parks is
reshaping the structure and logic of urban expansion.
No longer relegated to distant outskirts, industrial hubs
are increasingly being planned closer to consumption
centres—redefining how cities grow, interact, and
sustain economic activity. This shift is not just spatial,
but deeply functional. By embedding warehousing and
ful昀椀lment infrastructure within urban and peri-urban
zones, these parks are turning into operational anchors
for commerce and logistics, while also catalysing surrounding development.
