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Executive Summary 

Executive Summary 

Mobility and places, that is, inhabited space, raises major political issues. With the 

ambitious title “Space and Us, Today and Tomorrow”, the SpaceWatch workshop 2010 

proposed to discuss the Swiss space in the form of a think tank, gathering together 

a panel of Swiss and European experts. The uniqueness of SpaceWatch resides in its 

total independence from political and institutional power. The think-tank allocates an 

unusually long time for reflexion and assumes the existence of controversies without 

asking the participants to produce an univocal conclusion at the end of the process. 

Two very strongly interrelated topics were retained for this edition in order to explore 

Swiss territorial issues. The first one, “Space as Seen by Individuals” is an invitation to 

tackle the way new players of space see their living environment. The second theme 

proposes a more hypothetic and provocative approach towards mobility, with the 

statement: “What if… ? A Post-Car World ?”. Setting the debate around concrete issues 

concerning the future of the territory not only enables an identification of emerging 

trends but also an analysis of the present state of mobility through the consideration 

of utopian schemes. 

This publication presents the main results of the workshop in the form of scientific 

statements and research questions, each topic being preceded by a collection 

of commented texts, which were used as background papers for the workshop. The 

phenomenon of urban sprawl and its correlation with individual motorized traffic is 

considered to be one of the most urgent issues to be resolved, and therefore must 

first be understood through research, notably from the angle of the actors of the territory. 

The workshop highlighted moreover that more knowledge transfer between 

research institutions and public bodies able to intervene in space, as well as between 

the linguistic regions of Switzerland are necessary. In addition, the scientist’s and the 

citizens’ roles as well as the notion of governance more generally need to be redefined. 

The model of sustainability proposed for the Swiss space can be summarized by 

the notion of urbanity, understood as the arrangement of density, diversity, public 

space and public mobility. At last, coherence between legal instruments and public 

policies must be improved. The second chapter tackles the question of the post-car 

city. Car culture, possible alternatives to the current mobility model, individualisation 

of public transport and the opposition between the car-city and the slow-city are 

addressed. In conclusion, the participants to the workshop take a critical look at the 

Swiss transportation policy. 

The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Board) has mandated 

four scientists to define the crucial research questions in the spatial sciences. In order 

to fulfil this mission, the four scientists created the Swiss Spatial Sciences Framework 

[1]

Space and Us, Today and Tomorrow 

(S3F). SpaceWatch 2010 is part of a coordinated event supported by S3F. As a member 

of the S3F steering committee, Prof. Jacques Lévy (EPFL - INTER, Laboratoire Chôros) 

directed the SpaceWatch Workshop as the contribution of EPFL to the Framework. 

Besides the four members of the steering committee, 10 internationally-known experts 

took part to the three-days workshop. A public debate drew 70 people on February 

10 th for the presentation of the conclusion to the discussions. 

www.s3f.ch http://spacewatch.epfl.ch 

[2]

I. 

Space and Us 

Today and Tommorrow

Table of Contents 

Table of Contents 

Foreword: a Discussion Kick-Off 6 

SpaceWatch 2010: Participants and Programme 10 

I. Territorial Awareness of Swiss and European Contexts 13 

1. Overview of Urban in Switzerland 14 

2. Switzerland and its Urban Scales 22 

3. Which Future is Best for Swiss Spatial Development? 34 

4. Regional Governance in Switzerland: Basel, Zurich and Leman Example 37 

Two Approaches to Address Swiss Space 43 

“Urbanity ” as a Concept for Swiss Spatial Development 43 

Time Management as a Tool for Swiss Spatial Development 50 

II. “Space as Seen by Individuals” 55 

1. Questions about Space from the Viewpoint of the Individual 56 

2. How Could we Put Ourselves into the Shoes of Swiss Urban Dwellers? 57 

3. Some Facts about Urban Sprawl and the Housing Model in Switzerland 59 

4. What are Citizens’ Views about Spatial Planning? 65 

5. Single-Detached Housing Market 68 

6. Dependency on Individual Motor Vehicles 71 

7. How Does one Cope with the Contradiction between the Dispersed Urban 

Development and the Desire for Densification? 77 

8. Why Thinking about a “CitizenSpace”? 99 

Statements and Questions on “Space as Seen by Individuals” from the 

SpaceWatch 2010 Workshop 108 

III. “What if … ? A Post-Car World ?” 113 

1. Imagine a City with no Cars 114 

2. De-Privatizing Vehicles 117 

3. New Transportation Policies 122 

4.New living, Work, Leisure, Practices 128 

5. “Disruptive“ Innovation 135 

6. Summary 136 

Statements and Questions on “The Hypothesis of a Post-Car World” 

from the SpaceWatch 2010 Workshop 142 

Participants Biographies 146 

Bibliography 150 

[5]


[6] 

Foreword 

A Discussion Kick-Off 

Some short news from Switzerland: space is central in several major public debates. 

If we focus on mobility issues, we can see a very controversial public debate at the 

federal scale, about road and rail financing and pricing. 

About mobility, we are observing a fierce fight in Geneva on public and private transportation. 

The November 29th , 2009 referendum on the construction of a metropolitan 

railway called CEVA is a good example. ”Nous vivons ensemble, nous bougeons ensemble” 

(”We live together, we move together”), a pro-CEVA has proclaimed, but not 

everybody agrees on this and two populist movements UDC and MCG have gather 

a quarter of the Canton’s electorate thanks to tough mottos against the Annemasse 

“caillera” , that is the young mob coming from the French neighbouring area. 

An emerging debate is stirring the issue of whether or not the Swiss constitution 

guarantees an equal accessibility by car and public transportation, or, in another formulation, 

whether or not “liberalism” means free choice of the transport mode. The 

same day, a referendum in another canton, Obwald, had addressed the issue of a 

new “high quality” neighbourhood, some observers have called “gated community” 

or future ”ghetto for the rich people”. 

More generally, debates on urban models (for instance between that of ”gathered 

city” and that of ”sprawled and fragmented urban society”) immediately generate intense 

social and political arguments. Urban policies and territorial development have 

therefore currently become one of the most controversial issues on the Swiss political 

scene. As soon as issues such as agglomération policy, road pricing, or industrial 

brownfields are raised, the usual Swiss consensus vanishes. Many stakeholders and 

powerful lobbyists consider oil taxes on cars not as taxes but as a fee to maintain a 

good, the roads, that belong to them, as a shared good, common to all drivers. This 

is clearly at odds with another conception, seeing infrastructures as a public good, 

belonging to the society as a whole and that would be lent (or let) to users, supposed 

to pay, in return, a tax which goes down into the general public budget and, as such, 

entails no predetermined use.

Foreword 

Thus, mobility and places, that is inhabited space, raises major issues in politics and 

political philosophy. The current dilemma of whether to allow urban sprawl to continue 

or instead to face up to the challenges of dense and diverse urbanity illustrates 

the difficulty where our society remains hesitating on its choice between two or more 

incompatible approaches each of them supposed to make space liveable. The principles 

of spatial development appear to be trapped in a twilight zone, in which the 

experts’ informed but often-diverging views do not always coincide with ordinary 

citizens’ views that are themselves divided into opposite paradigms. As long as this 

confusion remains, spatial development will continue to be the Achilles’ heel of sustainable 

development, as we said in SpaceWatch 2008 report. 

SpaceWatch project approach – A scientific think tank on spatial development 

The main goal of SpaceWatch is to create a limited-access workshop, open to a small 

number of Swiss and foreign participants with practical as well as theoretical professional 

orientations. This scientific think tank on spatial development has been set 

up to be totally independent from any lobby or political power and to select people 

that would accept to develop free scientific thought on issues that may be highly 

controversial within social and political life. The uniqueness of SpaceWatch resides in 

the challenge of exploring a specific, and dangerous, area: the very meeting air-lock 

between two fields, that are supposed to be separated by their rationales: scientific 

construction of refutable statements and controversial debates on the public stage. 

This supposes a clear commitment from the participants and the acceptance that since 

we cannot completely eliminate the porosity between the scientist and the citizen, 

it is better to admit it and to explicit values and political choices that may underpin 

academic statements. 

A contribution to the Swiss Spatial Sciences Framework (S3F) 

The first edition of SpaceWatch (May 2008) generated 8 proposals, notably based on 

a substantial Swiss press review. Some of them were consensual, others, less, for instance 

on mobility. Background information of the first edition and the book “1m2 /second” 

containing the results of SpaceWatch 2008 are available on http://spacewatch. 

epfl.ch. The advantage of the trilogy of events (Zurich, Lausanne, Bern) being organized 

by the Swiss Spatial Sciences Framework (S3F) in 2009-10 is that they will combine 

two complementary working methodologies in order to provide a full response 

to the question posed by the ETH Board. As a matter of fact, the question the S3F 

Steering committee is supposed to fulfil the ETH Board’s expectations, and beyond, 

of the Swill Federal Parliament’s concerns, is: ”What are the crucial research questions 

concerning spatial sciences in Switzerland and in Europe?” The SpaceWatch concept 

is perfectly in line with this issue. That is why we decided to integrate the project 

into the S3F scheme and to use it as the second encounter of the S3F trilogy. The 

SpaceWatch project aims to take advantage of the critical spirit prevailing in the academic 

context. It has therefore gathered excellent specialists who keep off the Swiss 

political decision-making processes, but who are willing to play an important civic 

role in considering society’s needs in connection with inhabited space. 

[7]


SpaceWatch 2010 - A three-day workshop concluded by a public debate 

The second edition of the SpaceWatch project, which has been organised with the 

collaboration of the EPFL’s Institute of Urban and Regional Sciences will focus on the 

interface between research supply and political demand, which was the very starting 

point for the S3F process. 

SpaceWatch aims at formulating statements concerning spatial development in Switzerland 

and Europe. On the one hand, the discussions will enable experts to formulate 

future research projects in the field of spatial sciences. On the other hand, in order 

to build a bridge between academic expertise and society, the workshop also led to 

more societal oriented recommendations. The SpaceWatch workshop provided an 

opportunity to develop proposals for strengthening and improving educational and 

research structures in this field. 

The programme for SpaceWatch 2010 features two specific topics, which are in the 

continuation of those raised at the 2008 event. These topics have been addressed 

during significantly long sessions of free discussion. 

The first one is “Space as Seen by Individuals”, followed by “What if...? A Post-Car World”. 

These two topics are strongly interrelated, since acting on the first one will produce 

changes in the other. This document provides a common information base regarding 

spatial development today in Switzerland, along with introductory materials on the 

two specific topics selected for discussion. 

This collection of articles has been derived from many sources and does by no means 

claim for exhaustiveness. It merely served to offer a few relevant and divergent reflections 

on the topics to be discussed during SpaceWatch workshop. Attention has been 

given to maintaining a balance between academic information and the social debate 

on spatial development. The articles, which are briefly commented along the file, may 

be drawn equally from the academic literature (e.g. reviews and books), from official 

documents and statistics, or from informal sources such as newspapers. Best-practice 

examples are also mentioned. 

Final statements of the workshop, which may be either consensual or controversial, 

have been briefly presented at a public event in the presence of the workshop participants 

on February 10th 2010. In case of controversy, the defenders were able to elaborate 

their views. We do prefer argued controversies to feeble, corny consensuses 

because we simply think they are better tools for knowledge-building and decision 

making. 

Spatial planning as a matter for society 

In social worlds, the distance between theory and practice is small. In urbanism, observation 

is a crucial part of action. Spatial planning was a matter for planners as spatial 

development is a matter for society with all its actors. In the ideal, spatial sciences 

and spatial engineering should be separated only by provisional differences of workstyle, 

rather than by fundamental disciplinary oppositions. In this prospect, we would 

modestly like to help scholars to participate in “hybrid forums”, which are based on 

[8]

Foreword 

the idea that everybody takes on one’s part, without confusion des genres and role 

mix. In such configurations, nobody is lead to anticipate too much, to interiorise too 

soon a future compromise. Doing so, we keep in mind both the efficiency of academic 

research and quality of the public debate. 

With this document, we hope to contribute efficiently to the general objectives of S3F 

and beyond to a better quality of both scientific achievements and public awareness 

on spatial issues. 

Jacques Lévy 

[9]


SpaceWatch 2010: Participants and Programme 

Steering Committee of the Swiss Spatial Sciences Framework (S3F) 

The task of the S3F steering committee was to define major research aims for the future in the 

field of the spatial sciences in Switzerland, in both the national and the international contexts. 

Its purpose was to establish targeted and intensive networking of university, political/administrative, 

and private-enterprise bodies, as well as to achieve substantial improvements in university 

training courses. It had therefore to make a contribution to providing the essential and 

innovative stimuli needed for political bodies and for society in general in connection with the 

spatial sciences in Switzerland, notably through recommendations. 

[10] 

Prof. Dr. Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani, ETH Zurich (head of the working group; Network 

City and Landscape / NSL) 

Prof. Dr. Jacques Lévy, EPFL (Institute of Urban and Regional Sciences / INTER) 

Prof. Dr. Bernd Scholl, ETH Zurich (NSL) 

Dr. Silvia Tobias, WSL 

The S3F independent scientific committee present at all events of S3F took part to the workshop 

discussion. 

Dr. Fran Tonkiss: urban and economic sociologist; London School of Economics and Political 

Science, Department of Sociology, United Kingdom 

Dr. Katharina Helming: landscape researcher / ecologist; Leibniz Centre for Agricultural 

Landscape Research (ZALF), directorate, Germany 

Prof. Michel Lussault: Geographer, President of the University of Lyon / Ecole normale supérieure 

de Lyon and Professor, France 

Prof. Bernardo Secchi: University IUAV of Venice, Faculty of Architecture, Italy 

Prof. Dr. Max van den Berg: Consultant and Advisor Spatial Planning, Croonen Adviseurs; 

former Professor for spatial planning at TU Utrecht, chief planner Randstad NL, former President 

of ISOCARP – International Society of City and Regional Planners, the Netherlands 

Experts for SpaceWatch 2010, Lausanne 

The experts present at the SpaceWatch workshop uniquely were present during the three days 

of reflexion and at the public debate. 

Dr. Xavier Comtesse, Avenir Suisse, Switzerland 

François Grether, Urbanist, Francois Grether Urbaniste, Paris, France 

Dr. Luca Pattaroni, Urban Sociology Laboratory, PhD in sociology, EPFL INTER LASUR, Switzerland 

Prof. Martin Schuler, Urban and Regional Planning Community, EPFL INTER CEAT, Switzerland 

Prof. Ola Söderström, Université de Neuchâtel, Institut de géographie, Switzerland

Public Debate 10 February 2010, 16.45 - 19.00 

Participants and Programme 

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL 

Language: English and French 

Participants: academic and professional scholars, politicians, representative of public authorities 

and any interested person. 

Public presentation and discussion of the recommendations issued from the 3 days workshop in 

presence of S3F Scientific Committee, Lausanne Experts Group and S3F Steering Committee. 

The main goal of the symposia in Lausanne was to formulate scientific statements concerning 

spatial development in Switzerland and in Europe. As a result of this, the S3F scientific committee 

and experts invited for the Lausanne event drew up a list of recommendations, as well 

as proposals for research projects. Academic observations has been brought into the public 

debate through the public discussion organised at the end of the three days. 

Programme 

16:45 Welcome 

17:00 Opening by Prof. Giorgio Margaritondo, EPFL Vice president for academic affairs 

Presentation of the workshop’s results and debate 

Stakeholders: Dr Silvia Tobias, Prof., Michel Lussault, Ola Söderström and Jacques Lévy 

Animated by Richard Quincerot 

17:10 I Crucial research questions in spatial sciences 

17:35 II “Space as Seen by Individuals” 

18:00 III “What if...? A Post-Car World” 

18:25 IV Education and research structures 

18:50 Closing remarks and next steps by Maria Lezzi, ARE director 

19:00 Aperitif 

[11]


1. Overview of Urban in Switzerland 

[14] 

[?] 

Is Switzerland rural? Urban? Peri-urban? Fully urban? 

Which place are qualified as “spaces“ in the study of urbanity in Switzerland? 

Before deepening the particular themes proposed in the two following chapters (II. 

“Space as Seen by Individuals”, III. “What If...? A Post-Car World”), this introduction 

presents recent information concerning current spatial development in Switzerland, 

and Europe more generally. A selection of maps accompanied by reproductions of 

relevant articles will notably tackle two major tendencies, which constitute the paradox 

of urban sprawl: the dispersion of urban settlement and the metropolisation 

process 1 . 

Let us start with a general overview of the Swiss urban context. Several maps collected 

here present the current state of urbanisation: land use, agglomerations and 

density of constructed space. Special importance is given to metropolitan areas. According 

to experts, Switzerland contains one to five metropolises, as the present selection 

of maps illustrates. Lastly, Switzerland’s position in Europe -politically not part 

of Europe while economically fully integrated into the European exchanges market- 

will be shortly discussed. 

Map by OFS: Ground use in Switzerland 

As a reminder, the entire Swiss housing and infrastructure space constitutes only 

about 7% of the territory 2 , while the remainder is covered by alpine territory, forest 

and water surfaces. 

Most of the country’s settlements are situated on the West-East Plateau on the north 

side of the Alpine chain and in the valleys of Valais and Ticino Cantons as the following 

map 3 indicates. 

1 Lévy, J. (Ed.) (2008) L’invention du Monde. Une géographie de la mondialisation, Paris, Presses 

de Sciences Po. 

2 Morgenthaler, B. & A. Grossenbacher (2009) Mémento statistique de la Suisse 2009, Neuchâtel, 

Office fédéral de la Statistique: 50. 

3 Office fédéral de la statistique (2004) Statistique de la superficie 1992/97. Neuchâtel, Office 

fédéral de la statistique.

Map by CEAT: Functions distribution 

Territorial Awarness of Swiss and European Contexts 

This map 4 by CEAT laboratory shows the repartition between central, peri-rural and 

tourist regions. It illustrates how municipalities are losing or gaining density. While 

the densification process can be observed on the Geneva Lakeside in the newly built 

areas, industrial cities like Neuchâtel or cities in Jura, as well as rural villages, are losing 

inhabitants either because they are spreading out in the new suburban constructions 

or because of the “flight” of their inhabitants to other cities. 

The use of the adjective “rural” is nevertheless debatable. While the authors of this 

map consider this typology relevant to give an account of Swiss urbanisation, others 5 

would affirm that there is no longer any rural space in Switzerland. An argument for 

this is that the amount of commuters between countryside and city is increasing significantly. 

Official statistics also establish that “Les interdépendances entre la ville et 

la campagne, principalement en matière de mouvements pendulaires, augmentent de 

manière significative.” 6 

Map by OFS: Densification of built space between 1981 and 2005 

While certain regions are gaining density, others are getting emptier, as the following 

map 7 illustrates, only for the French speaking part of Switzerland. The most attractive 

poles of the considered area are the coast of Geneva Lake, especially the agglomeration 

of Geneva and the entire Vaud Canton. Areas losing density are the Jura mountain 

range and the regions of Bern and Fribourg. 

Is sw It z e r l a n d u r b a n o r r u r a l? 

The fact that 80% of the Swiss population today lives in urban areas (as opposed to 

rural areas) allows us to assume that the country is fully urban. This is the conclusion 

of a federal report 8 and that of two recent publications: ”Switzerland: An Urban 

Portrait”, by Studio Basel 20005 and “Le feu au lac – Vers une région métropolitaine 

lémanique” by Avenir Suisse 2006. Architects Pierre Feddersen and Richard Quincerot 

assume in “Le feu au lac” that the country is peri-urban and a tourist attraction but no 

longer rural and talk about a “metropolitan countryside” (campagne métropolitaine). 

4 Schuler, M., P. Dessemontet, & al. (2007). Atlas des mutations spatiales de la Suisse. Zurich, Editions 

Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 

5 Cf. Switzerland: Urban Portrait by ETH Studio Basel, page 178. 

6 Meier, H. R. & J. Kuster (2009) Monitoring de l'espace urbain suisse - Analyses des villes et agglomérations, 

Office fédéral du développement territorial. 

7 Dessemontet, P., A. Jarne & M. Schuler (2009) "Suisse romande, les facettes d’une région affirmée", 

Forum des 100 - édition 2009: 28. 

8 Office fédéral du développement territorial (2006) Rapport 2005 sur le développement territorial, 

Berne, Office fédéral du développement territorial. 

[15]


Other authors maintain the distinction between urban and rural. C.E.A.T. research 

group 9 explains for example in its map focusing on the French-speaking part of the 

country (cf. page 22) that, while urban areas are getting denser, rural ones are sprawling. 

Disagreement exists about this urban/ rural distinction, but at least urbanity is now 

recognised by the highest Swiss authorities. It is only since the last revision of the 

Swiss Constitution in 1999 that cities and urban areas gained recognition in a federal 

document. Even though paragraph 3 was added to the old article dealing with municipalities, 

the urban process is now at least taken into account in the Constitution. 

A rural image still marks the Swiss state, which constitutes a major and tenacious 

obstacle to the metropolisation process. 

Article 50 of Swiss Constitution (1999) Section 3: Communes 

Art. 50 

1 The autonomy of the communes shall be guaranteed in accordance with cantonal law. 

2 The Confederation shall take account in its activities of the possible consequences for 

the communes. 

3 In doing so, it shall take account of the special position of the cities and urban areas as 

well as the mountain regions. 

Is sw It z e r l a n d a c o u n t r y o f c o m m u t e r s ? 

The quantity of commuters is another indicator to study the character of metropolitan 

cities. Yet Switzerland is witnessing an increasing amount of commuters 10 

, from 

greater distances. First inter-municipal, then inter-cantonal and then international, in 

the different bi- or tri- national metropolises which now exist. The graphics below 11 

also illustrate that most commuters are moving into the agglomeration. 

9 Dessemontet, P., A. Jarne, & al. (2009) "Suisse romande, les facettes d’une région affirmée", Forum 

des 100 - édition 2009: 28, Schuler, M., P. Dessemontet, and al. (2007). Atlas des mutations spatiales 

de la Suisse, Zurich, Editions Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 

10 Schuler, M., P. Dessemontet, & al. (2007) Atlas des mutations spatiales de la Suisse, Zurich, Editions 




[19]

Map by CEAT: 


Commuter Movement between Swiss Agglomerations 

“La part des personnes actives dont le lieu de travail ne se situe pas dans la commune 

de domicile a passé de 41 pour cent en 1980 à 57 pour cent en 2000 en Suisse. Cette 

proportion est plus ou moins la même dans l’espace urbain et l’espace rural.” 

Figure 5 Commuters statistics 1990-2000 and dwelling repartition per 

housing type 2000, Swiss Federal Sensus, by ARE 

[21]


2. Switzerland and its Urban Scales 

[22] 

[?] 

What is the right governance scale for metropolitan spaces in 

a federal system based on the brick of municipalities? 

How is it possible to fix cities’ borders for 

agglomerations that may be tri-national? 

Which role do Swiss cities have to play in the European network of 

cities, in a country economically integrated, but politically isolated? 

munIcIpalItIes a t Issue 

How can Switzerland fully integrate its urban scale? 

The municipalities' administrative entity is questioned in this article published by 

ETH Studio Basel 12 . Although forming a strong bases for Swiss federalism, municipalities 

do not seem to be the appropriate building blocks for the future. Switzerland 

differs from most of European countries through its tradition of the reconciliation 

of differences (linguistic, cultural, political, topographical) and its managerial habits 

regarding the borders between these differences. This tradition became such a Swiss 

speciality that today the country is no longer able to deal with real differences such 

as urban culture. “Finalement les Suisses ne veulent ni la nature ni la ville, mais un peu 

des deux et aucun en particulier.” 13 

According to Herzog and Meili, the strategy to adopt for Switzerland is not to concentrate 

on a unique pole, but to enforce the different existing poles. However, federalist 

and egalitarian tradition ensuring the same rights and opportunities for each location 

stands in the way of any process for change. “Le fédéralisme helvétique suisse agit 

à l’encontre d’une métropolisation dynamique”. 14 

Nevertheless, to achieve any change in municipalities, it would be necessary to set up 

a solidarity dynamic and to accept that some regions share the costs and benefits of 

strong and weak sectors with other regions. In order to effect a real change towards 

12 Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, Introduction. Basel, Birkhäuser 

- Verlag AG. 

13 Ibid. 

14 Ibid.


metropolisation, it would be necessary to set up a decision mechanism covering 

considerably larger spaces. The authors doubt the capacity of the Swiss to learn this 

solidarity, as well as to establish decision organs at a higher scale than the current 

one of the municipalities. This is however the case in the tri-national metropolitan 

region of Basel, as is mentioned by the authors themselves 15 . Since the publication 

of the book, the area of Zurich has also equipped itself with a new metropolitan government. 

[24] 

sw Is s a g g l o m e r a t Io n s 

In Switzerland, a settlement is considered to be a city of over 10 000 inhabitants 16 

while the official definition of an agglomeration in Switzerland according to the Federal 

office of territorial development (ARE) mentions 20 000 inhabitants 17 . The ARE 

specifies several conditions for municipalities adjacent to core cities to belong to the 

agglomeration: 

The above anamorphosis map by Chôros Laboratory (EPFL) 18 indicates the weight of 

Municipalities according to their population. The result differs a lot from the previous 

map and enables a new understanding of Swiss urban spaces. Switzerland today 

has five agglomerations: Zürich 19 (1 132 000 inhabitants), Geneva (503 600), Basel 

(489 000), Bern (346 000), Lausanne (317 000) and Lugano (56 000). According to the 

authors, Geneva and Lausanne are considered either as one single agglomeration or 

separately. 

It’s t Im e f o r t h e sw Is s me t r o p o l Is! 

The point here is not to decide the number of metropolitan areas in Switzerland, but 

rather to stress the reality of this urban phenomenon. Considering this new scale 

of reflection, the debate on the relevance of the municipality today deserves to be 

addressed. 

15 Three Cross-border Metropolitan Regions. Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An 

Urban Portrait, Introduction, Basel, Birkhäuser - Verlag AG. 

16 Office Fédéral de la statistique (2009) Nomenclatures - Agglomérations et villes isolées. 


Office fédéral du développement territorial. (Base definition in ARE Glossaire http:// 

www.are.admin.ch) 

18 Schuler, M., P. Dessemontet, & al. (2007) Atlas des mutations spatiales de la Suisse, Zurich, Editions 


19 Morgenthaler, B. & Grossenbacher A. (2009) Mémeno statistique de la Suisse 2009, Neuchâtel, 

Office fédéral de la Statistqiue: 50, data 2007 and for Lugano, Avenir Suise (2005) La nouvelle 

Lugano, Baustelle Föderalismus, Blöchliger H. & Schneider M., Basel, NZZ Libro: 416.

ARE Agglomeration’s Definition 


L’agglomération est un ensemble d’au minimum 20 000 habitant-e-s, formé par la 

réunion des territoires de communes urbaines adjacentes. Elle se constitue d’une 

ville-centre et, suivant les cas, d’autres communes de la zone-centre, ainsi que d’autres 

communes qui ont un lien fonctionnel avec la ville-centre. 

Pour appartenir à une agglomération, les communes doivent remplir au moins trois des 

cinq conditions ci-après (compte tenu de valeurs seuils prédéfinies): 

- Lien de continuité avec la ville-centre de l’agglomération 

- Densité élevée de population et d’emplois 

- Évolution démographique supérieure à la moyenne 

- Secteur agricole peu développé 

- Interdépendance prononcée de pendulaires avec la ville-centre et, suivant les cas avec 

d’autres communes de la zone-centre. 1 

1 Office Fédéral de la Statistique (2009) Nomenclatures - Agglomérations et villes isolées. 

Switzerland: An Urban Portrait by ETH Studio Basel: 

The Municipality as a Basic Cell 

“The commune is the stem cell of Swiss urbanism” is one central theme of our book, 

although we are placing our bets more on increasing the existing urban potential than 

on outlining a number of these. 

Cities are not created equal; they differ from one another. Despite globalization, they are 

not becoming more similar but rather more autonomous. Now as ever, we are living on 

a planet that has different cultures, different people, different rhythms, different times, 

and specific forms of urbanism. In making this assertion we are contradicting many of 

the thinkers of our day, who increasingly negate concepts like reality or difference.” 1 

“Before we get into the commune itself, we should speak for a moment about difference 

as a feature of the urban. In our country, the commune is mainly responsible for 

difference. In principle, the question of difference is about the survival of identities in a 

situation of global urbanization.” 

“Such differences are both cause and effect of this country’s highly heterotopic structure 

(…). ” 2 


- Verlag AG. 

2 Ibid. 

This second anamorphosis map by ETH Studio Basel 20 divides the Swiss territory into five 

categories: metropolitan regions, urban networks, quiet zones, alpine resorts and alpine 

brownfields. While agglomeration indicated on this map are practically the same as the 

20 Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, Introduction. Basel, Birkhäuser - 

Verlag AG. 

[25]


ones identified by the Federal Statistics Office, the authors are aware of the controversial 

character of their other categories, especially concerning quiet zones and alpine 

resorts: 

[26] 

Map by ETH Studio Basel, Urban Switzerland Typology 

This map shows well that municipal, cantonal and even national borders are somewhat 

out of date, as metropolitan and urban networks form according to a logic 

that does not care about administrative borders. In ETH Studio's vision, there are two 

metropolises: Geneva-Lausanne, and Zurich, extending from Lake Constance to the 

Basel agglomeration, while Ticino is attached to the Italian metropolis of Milan. Several 

agglomerations are indeed transnational: Geneva, Basel, Ticino and cities around 

Lake Constance. All areas, except the pink and orange ones, are supposed to develop 

weakly in the future, or only through tourism, which of course is not easy for local 

governments to address. Lastly, the authors stress that the Swiss federalist system 

acts against a dynamic metropolisation process. 

The next map by Alain Thierstein 21 even suggests a Switzerland made of two metropolises: 

Geneva Lakeside and Zurich area, other metropolitan spaces being added to 

one of these two. 

“Le livre a été controversé à sa sortie. L’expression de “friche alpine” a notamment 

suscité de vives réactions et de vives critiques dans les régions concernées. Les auteurs 

constatent que de nombreuses régions alpines continuent de se dépeupler malgré les 

aides financières qui leur sont accordées, et ils souhaiteraient qu’il soit pris acte de 

cette réalité. L’expression de “friche alpine” a été employée pour provoquer le débat sur 

les enjeux que sont le devenir de l’agriculture, la capacité de réforme, les modèles de 

subventionnement et le tourisme.” 1 

1 Comment on http://www.nb.admin.ch 

sw It z e r l a n d – eu r o p e, InclusIon o r e x c l u s Io n? 

Do all these refusals to participate in international organisations make Switzerland a 

hole? With four linguistic regions, 23 cantons, six half-cantons, and 2768 communes 

(in 2005) is Switzerland an island? Those provocative questions by ETH Studio Basel 

sum up how the Swiss State avoids taking part in international or European political 

and economical structures. In the meanwhile, the Swiss economy is fully a part of the 

21 Thierstein, A., L. Glanzmann, & al. (2006) European Metropolitan Region Northern Switzerland: 

Driving Agents for Spatial Development and Governance Responses. The Polycentric Metropolis. 

Learning from mega-city in Europe, P. Hall and K. Pain, London, Earthscan, 172-179.


European exchange system and cities appear to be competitive according to several 

rankings, as outlined by the following quote from the Swiss Monitoring unit of urban 

space. 


Agglomeration, Metropolises and Network of Cities 

“The most important criterion for demarcation is the coherence of the agglomeration 

areas that can be reached within an hour’s drive of Zurich’s city centre. One consideration 

is clearly the belief that only regions of this size can compete internationally. But there 

are still no detailed studies that could provide additional arguments for this thesis. 

Our analysis has identified three regions in Switzerland that fulfil the conditions for 

metropolitan regions, at least in part: Zurich, the bipolar Lake Geneva region, and the 

trinational region Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg.” 

“The three metropolitan regions of Switzerland have very different economic 

specializations, and correspondingly distinct positions and characteristics. Although 

there are many contacts and interconnections between them, strong synergies and 

complementarities are not evident. The dynamics of evolution in the three regions 

are different and do not appear to be synchronized. Even the regional constitution of 

the three areas is quite distinct. The criterion of strong and progressing specialization 

was another crucial factor in our decision to continue to regard the Zurich and Basel- 

Mulhouse-Freiburg regions as two separate entities. There are many connections between 

the two regions, and their commuter areas are increasingly growing together, with their 

edges starting to overlap. Nevertheless, the differences in culture and in economic and 

everyday orientation make them two clearly distinct units - even more so than either 

their topographical separation by the Jura mountain chain or their still pronounced 

tendency to distinguish between themselves.” 

“Networks of cities consist of converging small and medium-sized cities that lie outside 

metropolitan regions. They can take on very different forms and characteristics. The 

cities have strong economic, cultural, and social interconnections based on horizontal 

relationships.” 1 

1 Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, Introduction, Basel, Birkhäuser 

- Verlag AG. 

Spaces with more than 20 000 inhabitants are shown on the following map 22 . According 

to these categories, Switzerland has no city over five million people unlike London, 

Paris or Madrid. Zurich is the only million-strong agglomeration, and although 

we can observe an important concentration of cities with 250 000 to 1 million inhabitants, 

it is not even shown on this map. Compared with other European regions, a 

large number of Swiss cities between 50 000 and 250 000 are located very close to 

bigger urban poles. 



[28]


Figure 8 Two Swiss metropolitan regions, European metropolitan region Northern 

Switzerland, The polycentric metropolis, Thierstein, 2006 

[29]



Is Switzerland a Hole? Is Switzerland an Island? 

Switzerland has been a member of UNO only since 2002. 

Switzerland is not a member of NATO. 

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union. 

Switzerland is not part of the Euro Zone. 

Is Switzerland a hole? 1 


- Verlag AG. 

“Les villes suisses forment un réseau dense de grands, moyens et petits centres, dont les 

fonctions principales se complètent partiellement. 

Les grandes agglomérations jouent un rôle essentiel de “portes sur le monde”. Elles 

remplissent de plus des fonctions spécifiques de centres de services pour les autres 

régions et pour les petits et moyens centres de leur aire d’influence respective. 

Dans les domaines fonctionnels qui requièrent une proximité géographique avec 

l’économie locale et avec les ménages privés (p. ex. fonction d’approvisionnement, 

administrations cantonales), les petites et les moyennes agglomérations jouent un rôle de 

centre important pour leurs aires d’influence respectives. Cet effet est particulièrement 

sensible dans les agglomérations de l’espace alpin, situées à une grande distance des plus 

grandes agglomérations (p. ex. Davos, Saint-Moritz).” 1 

1 Meier, H. R. & J. Kuster (2009) Monitoring de l’espace urbain suisse - Analyses des villes et agglomérations, 


Two models can be distinguished in Europe. On the one hand, there is a structure 

composed of very large cities like Madrid, London, Paris, and Munich, which work 

together, and on the other side a network of smaller cities which cooperate. The size 

of a city is not only measurable through the size of its administrative population. The 

weight of Zurich in the network of European cities, for example, probably benefits 

from all other Swiss cities. Each of them contributes with its specialisation (finance 

and NGO in Geneva, chemistry industry in Basel, tourism in Lucerne etc.). For some aspects, 

this gathering-together of cities is perhaps insufficient. A simple example is that 

there is no “Muji” shop 23 in Switzerland, while all the biggest cities in the world have 

one. Does Switzerland suffer from the overly-rapid expansion of its city networks? 

23 Japanese shop, only present in the biggest metropolises of the world 

[30]


The monitoring of Swiss urban space performed by the Federal Office for Spatial Development 

(ARE) sums up the position of Switzerland in Europe from an economic 

point of view. ARE stresses Switzerland's innovative power, the amount of decision 

and control, availability of a qualified workforce, an efficient national and international 

transportation service and last but not least, a high quality of life and a wellpreserved 

environment. The metropolitan function of Switzerland's biggest cities is 

more important than what we can figure out from their population size. The report 

concludes that Zurich is comparable to the big motors of the world, such as Copenhagen, 

Dublin, Helsinki, Frankfort am Main, Dusseldorf, Florence, Hamburg and Cologne. 

Metropolitan Areas Comparison in Europe in 2003, ARE 

“Selon la définition du programme européen de recherche ESPON, les agglomérations 

suisses font partie d’un vaste réseau de villes européennes qui compte plus de 1500 

régions urbaines (appelées Functional Urban Areas; FUA) d’au moins 20 000 habitante-s 

(cf. Comparaison des aires métropolitaines). Les cinq plus grandes agglomérations 

suisses se rangent parmi les 200 premières de ce réseau. Zurich et Genève comptent 

parmi les 70 agglomérations européennes qui comptent au moins 750 000 habitant-e-s; 

elles occupent respectivement le 36e et le 67e rang dans ce classement. Bâle, Berne et 

Lausanne se retrouvent respectivement en 72e, 168e et 193e position. 

Toutefois, la concentration spatiale d’un grand nombre d’habitant-e-s ne constitue qu’un 

aspect du succès d’un espace métropolitain; parmi les autres facteurs, citons le potentiel 

économique et la force innovatrice, la forte densité de fonctions de décision et de 

contrôle, le réservoir de main d’oeuvre qualifiée, une desserte nationale et internationale 

performante, la qualité de vie élevée (y compris en termes de revenu et de pouvoir 

d’achat) et un environnement préservé. Quelle est la position des grands centres suisses 

à cet égard dans la comparaison européenne ? 

Zurich et Genève se situent parmi les dix meilleurs centres européens pour trois ou 

quatre des indices représentés, notamment en ce qui concerne le revenu brut en parité de 

pouvoir d’achat, le rayonnement comme centre financier, le nombre de sièges de groupes 

internationaux (Zurich), le nombre d’organisations internationales (Genève), le nombre 

de congrès (Genève) et la fonction de plaque tournante du trafic aérien international 

(Zurich). À quelques rares exceptions près (nombre des étudiant-e-s; dans le cas de 

Genève: également nombre d’habitant-e-s), les deux plus grandes agglomérations 

suisses se rangent dans le premier quart des 180 à 260 agglomérations considérées pour 

les analyses. 

L’agglomération bâloise, en sa qualité de centre pharmaceutique global, se retrouve en 

tête de classement quant à sa performance économique (valeur ajoutée par habitant-e) 

et au revenu par habitant-e. Elle se loge dans le premier ou le deuxième quart quant aux 

autres spécificités. Lausanne et Berne atteignent des positions qui se situent en majorité 

dans la moyenne. 

[31]


Figure 9 Metropolitan areas comparison in Europe in 2003, ARE 

[32]


Plusieurs palmarès internationaux de villes, dont certains sont régulièrement actualisés 

et qui utilisent une palette d’indicateurs qui varient selon les objectifs, permettent 

d’évaluer la position générale des cinq grands centres suisses par rapport aux autres 

grandes régions urbaines européennes. Dans les palmarès qui utilisent un grand nombre 

de critères, l’agglomération zurichoise se range entre la 20e et la 30e position parmi les 

agglomérations européennes (cf. fig. 46). Zurich peut se mesurer à des régions urbaines 

telles que Copenhague, Dublin, Helsinki, Francfort-sur-le Main, Dusseldorf, Florence, 

Hambourg et Cologne. À certains égards, la situation de Genève est comparable. 

Dans le classement général des agglomérations européennes selon ESPON, la grande 

agglomération de Zurich compte même parmi les “moteurs européens” qui, en termes 

de fonctions caractéristiques d’une grande ville au niveau européen, jouent un rôle 

déterminant en Europe. En comparaison avec Zurich et Genève, les agglomérations de 

Bâle, Berne et Lausanne présentent moins de caractéristiques typiques d’une métropole. 

En considérant les critères utilisés dans le présent contexte, ces trois agglomérations se 

rangent entre le 50e et le 200e rang.” 1 

“En termes de population, les grandes agglomérations suisses figurent aux rangs 36 

(Zurich), 67 (Genève), 72 (Bâle), 168 (Berne) et 193 (Lausanne) sur un total de plus de 

1500 agglomérations en Europe. 

Dans la comparaison internationale, la fonction métropolitaine des grands centres 

suisses est plus affirmée que ne le laisse prévoir le nombre d’habitant-e-s. 

La grande agglomération de Zurich compte parmi les 16 espaces urbains que le 

programme de recherche européen ESPON qualifie de “moteurs européens”, c’est-à-dire 

parmi les centres qui jouent un rôle déterminant en Europe en termes de performance 

économique, de fonction de contrôle et de décision, de force innovatrice et de carrefour 

aérien international.” 2 



2 Ibid. 

[33]


3. Which Future is Best for Swiss Spatial Development? 

[34] 

[?] 

How is it possible to adapt the planning scale to 

territories, taking into account urbanity? 

How can town planning guarantee the best conditions for new 

spatial negotiations to ensure equality without egalitarianism? 

Differences: An urban potential 

Can governance scales transcend traditional borders 

such as municipal, cantonal or national? 

ETH Studio Basel is one of the authors who assume that Switzerland is now urban. The 

research group compares the Swiss territory to a big supermarket in which everyone 

(or those having the appropriate capital for it) moves to the most attractive supply for 

each kind of need. If everything is urban, it does not mean that space is homogenous, 

the authors stress. This differentiation of space constitutes the best potential for Switzerland, 

says ETH Studio Basel. For this reason, they suggest that instead of trying to 

reach equality among every region, their differences should be strengthened 24 . 

By synthesizing the history of the Swiss urbanisation process, ETH Studio Basel gives 

the following portrait of the current peri-uban context (see next page). 

Suggestions of guidelines from a symposium organised by Le 

Temps and the review Tracés 

The Forum 25 has been a good opportunity to discuss the existence of urban vs. rural 

spaces in Switzerland. Yvette Yaggi, Former mayor of Lausanne, expressed her regrets 

that in all recent planning analyses in Switzerland, its urban condition is missing from 

24 Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, Materials. Basel, Birkhäuser - 

Verlag AG. 

25 Symposium organised by Le Temps and the review Tracés (26.11.2006). Traduction by editors



Portrait of Peri-Urban Context 

“Networked, polycentric urban regions formed not only in the vicinity of the 

metropolitan centres but also around small and medium-sized cities. While many inner 

cities experienced a new economic and cultural upswing, with abandoned industrial 

complexes and their infrastructures becoming desirable locations for a variety of uses, 

there was a coincident development in which centrality was dispersed. In suburban 

belts and in undefined urban intermediary zones, new, diffuse centres formed, with 

extensive infrastructure, shopping centres, entertainment sites, and in some cases 

highly skilled jobs. These regions are dominated by a new form of urban mobility that 

is directed eccentrically and tangentially. In the meanwhile nearly all everyday activities 

are governed by it. On the edges of large agglomerations, a variety of urbanization 

forms can also be observed that are not adequately described by the concept of 

“periurbanisation.” Single-family homes, consumer facilities, industrial plants, and 

small businesses are settling around villages and towns, creating a dense network of 

restless movement between communes.” 1 

1 Nouveau paysage urbain, Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, 

Materials. Basel, Birkhäuser - Verlag AG. 

symbolic maps, while the awareness of urbanity is necessary for reflection. Biel Mayor 

Hans Stöckli calls into question the idea that planning might change politics, because 

the results of the past few years show that it is not town planners nor politicians who 

made our country as it is today, but business and industry. This means that planners 

must try to recover some influence by means of politics. The fifteen participants to 

the debate organised by the two papers agreed with this affirmation. Switzerland 

has urbanised but without big cities, except Zürich, and in a heterogeneous way. 

The conclusions of this symposium are reproduced above, notably the need to find a 

larger governance and planning scale. 

- Democracy means that people have the same rights, not the same spaces. We should 

stop with territorial equality, thinking about space as autonomous territory of same 

value. Equity today must be measured through mobility, concludes Laurette Coen. 

- Transcend old territorial conceptions opposing rural and urban regions toward new 

negotiations spaces. 

- Transcend cantonal borders as well. According to Pierre Maudet, Geneva administrative 

council and president of the Swiss Western Council, the tax system, mobility, knowledge 

exchanges and energy should outline the new map for the negotiation entity, as it is 

done for agglomeration projects. 1 

1 Nouveau paysage urbain, Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, 

Materials. Basel, Birkhäuser - Verlag AG. 

[35]


SpaceWatch 2008 workshop made the same conclusion as this first bullet, while affirming 

in its eight final proposals “Ensure equality without egalitarianism”. “Fairness is the 

contemporary expression of equality. It is not about giving the same thing to everyone, 

but about ensuring equal opportunities for all”. 26 In the end, we must choose which 

form of urbanity we wish, among a vast field of possibilities. What Swiss planner Fred 

Wenger (Urbaplan office) says, is that after years of dictating what to do, the real 

expertise of planning is about how to organise the debate in order to decide what to 

do, which leads to the question of governance, tackled further in the document. 

26 Lévy, J. In Lévy, J. (Ed.) (2008) “1m 2 /second”, Territories of Debate in a direct Democracy, “Space: 

the Achilles’ heel of sustainable development? ”, Lausanne, EPFL-ENAC. 

[36]


4. Regional Governance in Switzerland: Basel, Zurich 

and Leman example 

[?] 

Basel tri-national Metropolitan Region 

Are cross-borders conurbations taken into account in 

European policies and national legislations? 

Can the Basel Eurodistrict experience as a conurbation 

governed at a regional scale be reproduced in other 

contexts such as Geneva lake metropolitan region? 

Basel is one of the only exemplary practises in terms of regional scale governance in 

Switzerland. Several levels of cooperation exist in the region of Basel and the Rhine 

River. For example the tri-national Agglomeration of Basel (ATB) is comprised of 53 

communes and 600 000 habitants, the “trinationalen Eurodistricts Basel [TEB]” has 

about 800 000 people, and the Regio TriRhena, which corresponds to the metropolitan 

region -Bales Mulhouse Freiburg- counts 675 communes, and 2 261 710 habitants 

27 . Regio TriRhena has to deal with several obstructions such as railroads and 

cemeteries but manages to overcome them. 28 

Zürich Metropolitanraum 

Recently, the Metropolitankonferenz Zürich introduced a new regional political structure, 

“Metropolitanraum Zürich”. Gathering together representatives of 8 Cantons and 

65 cities and Communes, this new regional government constituted a private law 

association containing an executive power, a House of Cantons and a House of Cities. 

Besides these two categories, there are ten persons from the cities of Zürich, in charge 

of urban or regional development, tourism, transportation as well representatives 

from the Greater Zürich Area (economic lobby) and delegates from the Metropolitanraum 

Zürich Association itself. 

27 Diener, R., J. Herzog, & al. (2006) Switzerland: An Urban Portrait, Materials. Basel, Birkhäuser - 

Verlag AG. And http://www.eurodistrictbasel.eu/ 

28 Urbanisme, n°31, 2006, p.39. 

[37]


The main objectives of the association are to develop the quality-of-living as well as 

international competitiveness. It works in four categories: living space, traffic, economy 

and society/culture. The area concerned by the Metropolitan space does not 

correspond to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), because it includes the agglomeration 

of Lucerne which according to the official definition, does not touch Zürich. The 

whole area has 1.9 million inhabitants and 900 000 employments. 

[38] 

Basel Tri-National Metropolitan Region 

“Basel has one of the most developed regional and transnational governance system 

in Europe. Again several organs exist at different scales: die Deutsch-Französisch- 

Schweizerische Oberrheinkonferenz, die Hochrheinkommission, and RegioTriRhena, 

which also has got a council. The TriRhena Council is composed of maxium 75 

members, distributed between the 3 countries and counts two chambers. 1 “Cross-border” 

conurbations (more than 60 have been identified in Europe) form genuine living areas, 

laboratories for a European citizenship in the making. Extending into two or even three 

countries, their cross-border situation exacerbates the complexity of the problems faced 

by “national” conurbations, but also increases their potential for innovation. Until now 

they have been virtually ignored as specific entities by European policies and national 

legislations, contractualization and financing even though they call for an innovative 

approach to go beyond national boundaries (political, linguistic, institutional, legal, 

cultural). The EGTC project will work on the promotion of innovative governance 

tools in a panel of cross-border agglomerations by identifying the relevant public and 

private stakeholders, and how common diagnoses, strategies, organisation schemes are 

developed; in order to highlight best practices, define a common methodology, study how 

Structural Funds, public funding and legal tools, such as EGTC (European Grouping 

of Territorial Cooperation), could efficiently support cross-border conurbations, and 

elaborate recommendations towards public actors at different levels.” 2 

1 http://www.regiotrirhena.org 

2 European Programme for urban sustainable development, Expertising Governance for Transfrontier 

Conurbations. 

Lausanne West Side Project 

(Schéma Directeur de l’Ouest Lausannois, SDOL) 

The western part of Lausanne city (2 600 hectares) today has 65 000 inhabitants and 

35 000 jobs. Through this agglomeration project, several areas will replace old industrial 

brownfields. The objective is to accommodate around 30 to 40 000 new inhabitants 

and jobs. in Lausanne city (which translates to a 30% increase in population) in 

this area by 2020 29 . The team paid attention to the dialogue between actors: the City 

29 Widmer, A. & Christin J. (2008) Elever la ville. Le développement de l'Ouest lausannois, Avenir 

suisse.

Figure 10 Organigram of Basel Eurodistrict (ETB) 1 


1 "Die Funktionsweise des TEB-Vereins/ Le fonctionnement de l’association ETB", Un avenir à trois, 

strategy development ATB (2020) p 111-115. 

[39]


of Lausanne and the Vaud Canton as well as 8 Communes taking part in the project. 

The second aspect of the projects is in developing major transportation infrastructures. 

Transportation infrastructure can create near-impermeable boundaries in the urban 

fabric30 . Politically, there is no new decisional level, but actors negotiate through 

a principle of “inter-communality”. Many practitioners mention that it is essential to 

decide very clearly who is controlling the process. This is also what the city of Bern is 

doing. Today, the project entered into the realisation phase, starting with operational 

studies. 

Seit dem Übergang zum Trinationalen Eurodistrict Basel im Jahre 

2007 hat sich die Satzung weiterentwickelt. 

Der TEB-Verein besteht seitdem aus folgenden Organen (vgl. Abb): 

Der Mitgliederversammlung, die alle Vereinsmitglieder umfasst (Insgesamt 62, davon 

29 aus der Schweiz, 18 aus Frankreich und 15 aus Deutschland). 

Dem Vorstand, der 24 politische Vertreter umfasst, darunter 8 deutsche, 8 französische 

und 8 Schweizer Mitglieder. Die Vorstandsmitglieder sind gewählte Vertreter der 

Gebietskörperschaften im Eurodistrict. 

Dem Districtsrat, der sich aus 15 deutschen, 15 französischen und 20 Schweizer 

Parlamentariern zusammensetzt. Die gewählten Vertreter im Districtsrat werden von 

den drei Ländern selbständig bestimmt. 

Den Fachlichen Koordinationsgruppen, die die Geschäftsstelle bei der Umsetzung ihrer 

Aufgaben unterstützen und die Abstimmung der Beschlussvorschläge des Vorstands 

koordinieren. 

Die Geschäftsstelle nimmt die verwaltungsmässigen und operativen Aufgaben des 

Eurodistricts wahr. Sie unterstützt und koordiniert die Experten- und Projektgruppen 

bei ihrer Tätigkeit. 

Experten- und Projektgruppen planen, überwachen und evaluieren auf der Basis 

von Projekt- bzw. Arbeitsaufträgen die Umsetzung der diversen Projekte in ihrem 

Zuständigkeitsbereich. 

Im Laufe der letzten zehn Jahre hat sich eine “gemeinsame Kooperationskultur” 

zwischen den Akteuren der trinationalen Zusammenarbeit durch regelmässige Treffen 

etabliert. 

Depuis 2007, les statuts ont évolué avec la transformation en 

Eurodistrict Trinational de Bâle. 

L’association ETB est composée désormais des organes suivants (cf. diagramme): 

Une assemblée qui réunit les représentants de tous les membres de l’association (62 au 

30 Della Casa, F. (2008) Elever la ville, Tokyo New-York, Bienne, Renens: Interview, Avenir suisse. 

Marianne Huguenin 

[40]


total dont 29 en Suisse, 18 en France et 15 en Allemagne). 

Le Comité Directeur qui comprend maintenant 24 représentants, huit membres 

allemands, huit membres suisses, et huit membres français. Les membres sont des élus 

des collectivités du périmètre de l’Eurodistrict. 

Un Conseil Consultatif, constitué de 15 membres allemands, 20 membres suisses et 15 

membres français. Les élus du Conseil Consultatif sont désignés dans chaque nation 

selon des règles qui leur sont propres. Le Conseil Consultatif correspond à l’ancienne 

Conférence d’Agglomération. 

Un Comité Technique de Coordination (CTC): Il soutient l’Administration dans la 

gestion des tâches qui lui sont confiées et assure un rôle de coordination préalable des 

décisions du Comité de Direction. 

Une administration : Elle exécute les missions opérationnelles et administratives de 

l’Eurodistrict. Elle assiste et coordonne les groupes d’experts et de projets dans leurs 

domaines de compétences. 

Des groupes d’experts et de travail : ils planifient, suivent et évaluent, pour le compte du 

Comité de Direction et de l’Assemblée des membres, la mise en œuvre des divers projets 

sur la base des missions attribuées dans leur domaine de compétence. 

Le système ATB et aujourd’hui de l’ETB relève d’une “culture commune de la 

coopération” qui s’est instituée progressivement entre les acteurs de la coopération, suite 

aux multiples réunions de travail de ces dix dernières années. 

“Les frontières qui traversent la Région métropolitaine lémanique ne tomberont pas 

magiquement devant des discours universalistes comme des murailles de Jéricho devant 

la volonté divine. Il faut accepter leur existence, reconnaître la souveraineté de chacun, 

cerner les problèmes, trouver un terrain d’entente et conclure des alliances pour la 

défense des intérêts communs.” 1 

“Le défi est de taille ; comment le relever à l’intérieur du corset très serré du fédéralisme ? 

Quelle forme donner au gouvernement des métropoles naissantes ?” 2 

Un territoire pertinent est “le plus petit espace au sein duquel les différentes fonctions 

d‘une société (économique, sociologique, politique, géographique et historique) peuvent 

faire système” 3 

“Genève doit-elle se tourner vers la France ou plutôt vers le Léman et la Suisse? Y-a-t-il 

une métropole lémanique?” 4 

1 Comtesse X. & Van der Peol C. (Eds.) (2006) Le feu au lac, Genève, Avenir Suisse, p.167 

2 Ibid, p.170. 

3 Lévy, J. (June 1996) "Espace et pouvoir en France: une utopie constitutionnelle", Pouvoirs Locaux 

29: 91-95. 

4 Diener, R., Herzog J., & al. (2006) Switzerland: An urban Portrait, Borders, communes : a brief 

history of the territory. Basel, Birkhäuser - Verlag AG. 

[41]


[42] 

Governing Geneva Lake metropolitan region 

Relating the utopian tale of Lemanopolis, an entire region governed by a metropolitan 

government which takes place in 2025, Marc Comina states that we are still far 

from this utopia, even though “specialists agree that it would be the ideal solution.” According 

to him, it is legitimate to wonder if anyone is taking care of the future metropolis: 

Who is going to organise the rail and road networks in order to channel the flow 

of commuters, on the scale of the metropolis? Who is going to make sure that the 

area remains competitive internationally? Who will take responsibility for designing a 

strategy both global and coherent for a metropolitan agglomeration which will soon 

house 1.8 million inhabitants? The answer may seem a little provocative, but it is merely 

an observation: no one. 

According to Comina, we are touching the Gordian knot of Swiss federalism and of 

the country’s three layers of institutions (Confederation, Cantons and municipalities) 

that are made for a decentralised and rural society. In the 21 st century however, 

the greatest challenges we face are in agglomerations: noise, pollution, traffic jams, 

exorbitant costs for housing, insecurity; all these problems originate from the same 

irreversible phenomenon: urbanisation, which began several decades ago, and is beginning 

to deeply affect the balance which had traditionally existed in the Confederation. 

The Leman metropolis is invisible when one considers the urbanisation process and 

can appear a little messy, “Chacun, pour son compte, va ou il le désire, quitte à ne pas 

voir qu’il n’est pas le seul dans son cas.” 31 As the author leads us to understand, it exists 

nonetheless, when we consider the amount of commuters on the roads or in pu.blic 

transportation. The important point mentioned in this article is that borders are not 

going to disappear by themselves, and that overcoming them requires a lot of work. 

Lemanopolis 

“La population a tranché. A une majorité des deux tiers, les habitants de Lemanopolis ont 

accepté la construction d’un nouvel hôpital universitaire. Situé sur le territoire français, 

il sera financé à parts égales (33%) par a région Rhône-Alpes, le canton de Vaud et le 

canton de Genève. Face aux médias, le maire de Lemanopolis a parlé de “plébiscite” et de 

tournant historique”. En acceptant de partager les coûts d’un tel projet d’infrastructure 

(100 millions d’Euros), les citoyens ont lancé un signal très clair de confiance et de 

soutien au gouvernement franco-suisse récemment mise en place : “Nous sommes en 

train de réussi notre pari, qui est de faire de la frontière une ressource et non plus un 

handicap”, a ainsi conclu le maire.” 1 

1 Comtesse X. & Van der Peol C. (Eds.) (2006) Le feu au lac, Genève, Avenir Suisse, p.167. 

31 Comtesse X. & Van der Peol C. (Eds.) (2006) Le feu au lac, Genève, Avenir Suisse, p.167.


Two Approaches to Address Swiss Space 

“Urbanity ” as a Concept for Swiss Spatial 

Development 

[?] 

How can urbanity be strengthened while Swiss urban attitudes are influenced 

by a “rejection culture” (density, height, masses, concentration…)? 

How can city planners and architects learn the concept of 

urbanity and apply it to Swiss spatial development? 

Does strengthening urbanity lead to overcoming political fragmentation 

and lack of regional governance in such regions as Lake Geneva ones? 

wh a t m a k e s u r b a n It y? 

Figure 11 Two models of urbanity by Jacques Lévy 1 

1 Lévy, J. (1999) Penser la ville. Le tournant géographique, Penser l’espace pour lire le monde, Belin. 

Paris: 241-244. 

Lévy, J. (Ed.) (2008) The City: Critical essays in human geography, Aldershot, Ashgate Publishing Limited. 

[43]


Interview with Jacques Lévy 

Alliance about Density and Functional and Social Diversity 

“Vous définissez deux modèles d’urbanisation: celui d’Amsterdam ou ville compacte et celui 

de Johannesburg ou ville diffuse, étalée. Comment analysez-vous les relations entre ces deux 

modèles? 

Ces modèles sont à la fois symétriques, car tous deux présents dans les pratiques et les 

imaginaires urbains, et dissymétriques, dans la mesure où seul le modèle d’Amsterdam 

accepte et assume le principe d’urbanité. Ceux qui y adhèrent portent le projet de favoriser 

le maximum de diversité dans le minimum d’étendue, ce qui constitue le principe même 

de la ville. Inversement, les adeptes du modèle de Johannesburg tentent de profiter de 

certains avantages de la ville, tels que l’accessibilité à un grand nombre d’objets ou de 

services, tout en rejetant certaines de leurs conséquences, comme la coprésence avec 

toutes sortes d’altérités. 

Il se trouve qu’à présent ces deux modèles “tiennent la corde”. On peut dire dans 

l’ensemble que l’un est majoritaire et l’autre légitime. (…) 

En Europe, on constate surtout une extension de la ville diffuse? 

Pour les “démunis”, la cohabitation avec l’altérité est perçue comme insupportable parce 

que, pensent-ils, elle les tire inexorablement vers le bas. Inversement, sans généraliser, on 

constate que le modèle de Johannesburg commence à être sérieusement contesté par les 

“élites” sociales, notamment culturelles. C’est là un premier plan de clivage entre les deux 

modèles, qui se traduit parfois par une ignorance réciproque mais parfois aussi par une 

confrontation “interclasses” sur la scène politique. Le deuxième plan est le plus évident 

: les deux modèles ne s’expriment pas dans les mêmes parties de la ville et se partagent, 

en quelque sorte, l’espace; le modèle d’Amsterdam progresse incontestablement dans les 

centres anciens, tandis que celui de Johannesburg domine dans les périphéries. Ce qui 

veut dire que, jusqu’à un certain point, ces deux modèles peuvent s’ignorer. Jusqu’à un 

certain point seulement, car la mobilité réunit les différents morceaux des aires urbaines. 

Troisième découpe : entre les petites et les grandes villes. Une métropole, même au 

sud-ouest des États-Unis, possède inévitablement une part des caractéristiques de la 

ville compacte (transports publics, métriques pédestres, espaces publics, mixité...); une 

petite ville, même dans la Dorsale européenne, est toujours plus ou moins tentée par la 

séparation des populations et des fonctions et par le tout-automobile. Là, c’est l’existence 

de sociétés comprenant un réseau urbain hétérogène qui permet d’associer ces situations. 

Enfin, selon l’“aire de civilisation”, il y a aussi un partage : la ville compacte s’en sort bien 

dans les anciennes sociétés rurales d’Asie et d’Europe, tandis que l’Afrique subsaharienne 

et l’Amérique du Nord penchent vers la ville diffuse, l’Amérique latine et le monde arabe 

se situant entre les deux. Cette fois, c’est la mondialisation qui rassemble les approches. 

Ainsi peut-on comprendre comment s’organise la coexistence, plus ou moins pacifique, 

entre les modèles. (…)” 

[44]


“Le périurbain n’est pas une nouveauté, il a au moins trente ans. L’élément nouveau ne 

serait-il pas le fait que la ville diffuse s’intéresse enfin aux architectes et aux urbanistes? 

Alors que l’on sait bien que, en France tout particulièrement, compte tenu de la juridiction 

existante, la plupart des pavillons ont été construits sans architecte. Effectivement, la 

commande a changé et s’intéresse à ceux dont elle se passait généralement jusqu’alors. 

Par ailleurs, au-delà de cet aspect conjoncturel, je pense que les maîtres d’ouvrage ont 

évidemment raison de ne pas abandonner des morceaux de ville qui dérangent leurs 

habitudes ou leur culture. 

En ce qui me concerne, ce sont les professionnels de l’urbanisme qui m’ont appris à 

faire la critique du Mouvement moderne en urbanisme, à comprendre que Le Corbusier 

était un bon architecte mais qu’il s’est complètement trompé en pensant la ville sur le 

modèle de l’usine ou de la maison. Je continue de les écouter lorsqu’ils disent à présent 

que l’on n’aboutira pas à des formes pures et unifiées, que les idéaux urbains sont des 

fictions, utiles parce qu’ils sont des fictions. La cohabitation multiforme, probablement 

sur une assez longue durée, entre les deux modèles d’urbanité conduit forcément à des 

compromis. Ainsi, si la ville compacte éveille une certaine sympathie au sein des habitants 

du péri-urbain, il faut chercher une traduction concrète à cet intérêt; si l’on veut garder 

des habitants dans le centre historique, pourquoi ne pas construire des maisons de ville? 

(…) 

Le maire de Barcelone défend totalement le modèle d’Amsterdam, le modèle de la ville 

compacte, et, en même temps, ce qu’il met en œuvre dans certains secteurs évoque des morceaux 

de ville américaine. C’est du moins la critique que lui adressent des architectes et des urbanistes 

barcelonais et européens. Qu’en pensez-vous? 

(…) Au fond, la force de la ville compacte réside dans son efficacité, multiforme : 

économique, écologique, sociologique, politique. La ville compacte gagne sur tous les 

temps: passé (patrimoine), présent (cohésion), futur (innovation). La rue, par exemple, 

reste un objet technique très pertinent. C’est ce qu’avait parfaitement compris Cerdà 

lorsqu’il pensait qu’il fallait se tenir sur le fil du rasoir entre réseau et territoire, entre 

ce qu’il appelait voies et entrevoies, c’est-à-dire entre exigence d’inter-accessibilité et 

puissance interactive du lieu. Il savait que la ville doit toujours maîtriser l’équilibre entre 

ces deux éléments, contrairement à ce qu’a prôné le Mouvement moderne en basculant 

d’un seul côté. (…)” 

“Souvent, les “amoureux des villes” n’apprécient pas les quartiers faits de toutes pièces. 

Il se peut qu’on ait du mal à y vivre, mais il ne s’agit pas pour autant de quartiers “à 

l’américaine”. Leur critique doit être analytique : l’esthétique architecturale est une chose, 

la structure de l’espace urbain en est une autre; il faut prendre la peine de les étudier 

séparément avant de tenter un bilan. 1 

1 Blais, J.-P., Loubière A. , & al. (November-December 2004) "Seul le modèle d’Amsterdam accepte 

et assume le principe d’urbanité , Entretien avec Jacques Lévy." Urbanisme n°339: 39-43. 

[45]


Making the city denser is globally considered as one main issue of spatial development 

and many opinions and analyses in this report mention density and the process 

of making the city denser. Divergences appear when talking about how, where, 

and for whom to make it denser. For this reason, we suggest basing ourselves on the 

concept of “urbanity” (urbanité 32 

) developed by Jacques Lévy. Density, functional and 

social diversity are the main components of urban character in Lévy’s definition 33 

. 

“L’urbanité spécifique à la Suisse se révèle être une sorte de culture du refus, une 

esquive de la densité, de la hauteur, de la masse, de la concentration, du hasard et de 

presque toutes les particularités que l’on souhaiterait voir dans une ville et que les suisses 

également adorent passionnément mais surtout le plus loin possible, en dehors de leur 

territoire.” 1 


- Verlag AG. 

12 Proposals from Le feu au lac by Avenir Suisse 

Towards an urban identity through mobility with an efficient transportation network, 

comparable to those of European metropolises. 

Towards a network of border cities, currently hosting 4/5 inhabitants of the region, 

integrating social activities and economic components. 

Towards a strengthening of the “learning region” by making the academic world converge 

on the reality of economic activities, through the creation of clusters (international, 

biotechnology, nutrition, environment…). 

Towards the transformation of academic knowledge in innovative goods and services to 

revive growth in the whole region. 

Towards an international paradigm shift by fully engaging in the world’s governance 

and abandoning the strategy of helping in reconciliation processes. 

Towards borderless territory according to Karlsruhe agreements, allowing autonomous 

governance of European transnational regions. 

Towards regional governance promoting contractual and sectorial statements rather 

than political structures. 

Towards a simplified territory through application of the subsidiary principle, which 

brings to strategies for merging smaller municipalities for example, in order to face 

today’s problems. 

32 Lévy, J. (Ed.) (2008) The City: Critical essays in human geography, Aldershot, Asgate. 

33 Ibid. 

[46]


Towards a budgetary discipline by concentrating on essential state services and through 

focusing investments on clusters. 

Towards a creative territory able to attract and retain a rich variety of innovators and 

high technology enterprises. 

Towards economic transformation to gain a better productivity at the state and enterprise 

level. 

Towards a strong identity in order for the region to develop locally through common 

future projects, meanwhile making International Geneva evolve. 1 

1 Comtesse X. & Van der Peol C. (Eds.) (2006) Le feu au kac, Genève, Avenir Suisse, p.167. 

Barcelona’s Benefit of 92’ Olympic Games 

“The Barcelona Games of 1992 continued and extended the role of the Olympics as a 

catalyst for urban redevelopment. The modifications to the urban structure of Barcelona 

were, however, by no means entirely new proposals. A programme of public open-space 

creation, for example, had been proposed in 1980 to correct the shortage of land and 

leisure facilities following an era of minimal urban planning during the Franco period. 

The Games was, therefore, used as a means of bringing forward many schemes which 

might otherwise have been long delayed or even cancelled and which were necessary for 

the city to compete for a place on the “global cities network”. As noted in the Official 

Report, the preparations for the Olympic Games were to have a significant influence 

on the city of Barcelona: ‘The Games have been the catalyst for improvements in the 

general infrastructure of the metropolitan area and for large scale planning projects 

which, because of their location and their size, will alter the shape of the growth of the 

city’.” 1 

“Conclusion: Across the last hundred years, the Olympic Games has played an 

increasingly important role as a stimulus to change within the host cities. Although the 

Olympics is the most prominent and publicized of the world’s sporting competitions, 

it can also be seen as part of a wider system of hallmark events, exhibitions and fairs 

through which cities compete for a place on the international stage. In all such cases, the 

attraction of a substantial number of visitors can bring at least short-term benefits to the 

city’s economy. The major world fairs and sporting events can also result in more lasting 

benefits including new facilities, new buildings and a range of wider infrastructional 

developments. For example while Barcelona was investing heavily in its plans for the 

1992 Olympics, Seville was also preparing for Expo 92 which involved building a new 

airport terminal, new bridges over the River Guadalquivir and a high-speed rail link to 

Madrid.” 2 

1 Chalkley, B. & S. Essex (1999) "Urban development through hostig international events : a 

history of the Olympic games", Planning Perspectives 14: 369-394. 

2 Ibid. 

[47]


However, there is a paradox regarding the density question as emphasized by Beth 

Krasna (MIT), because as we try to bring people nearer their jobs, we simultaneously 

notice that jobs are moving to the peripheries. In the end, the flow of commuters is reversed, 

but not reduced. We must also remember that density is not sufficient in itself, 

it has to include social and functional diversity as well as architectural diversity 34 . We 

must not also forget that consequences of densification are huge for public sectors, 

because most of the time, while owners double their earnings, communities double 

their costs due to equipment and networks. Beth Krasna says that we could also 

abandon the term “density”. She says this word frightens people, yet they often go 

on holiday to denser environments than the Swiss one. In the same article, Marianne 

Hugenin 35 , suggests talking for example “space optimisation” or “flow management”. 

Lévy stresses likewise the importance of random meetings in the urban context, 

which means the interaction of bodies and pedestrian “métrique” (way of measuring 

distance, and in addition the selection of considered social realities 36 ), which all together 

enable serendipity. Serendipity is both the ability and the means to make discoveries 

by chance. By this second concept, Lévy 37 indicates the possibility of unplanned 

and unexpected interactions as characteristic to the urban context. He gives the 

example of going somewhere and arriving in another place than expected, or looking 

for something and finding something else or meeting someone by chance. Yet, while 

these are the main components to combine in order to obtain urbanity, the lack of 

heterogeneity is impressive in the phenomenon of urban sprawl. What can be done 

to bring heterogeneity to the city? 

[48] 

Two models of urbanity by Jacques Lévy 38 

ho w c a n u r b a n It y b e strengthened? 

As urban character is made of several components, there are also many potential 

ways to strengthen it. Non-exhaustive suggestions are mentioned below to fuel reflection. 

Recommendations by Manuel Castells and by Avenir Suisse Think Tank are 

first referred to, and then followed by a selection of best practices including the question 

of time management. 

34 Della Casa F. (2008) Elever la ville. Tokyo, New-York, Bienne, Renens: Iterview of beth Krasna, 

Avenir suisse. Beth Krasna. 

35 City council of Renes (VD) 

36 Lévy, J. (Ed.) (2008) L'invention du Monde. Une géohraphie de la mondialisation. Paris, Presses 

de Sciences Po. 

37 Lévy, J. (13.01.2004) "Serendipity", EspacesTemps.net, Mensuelles. 

38 Lévy, J. (1999) Penser la ville. Le tournant géographique, Penser l’espace pour lire le monde. 

Belin. Paris: 241-244, Lévy, J. (Ed.) (2008) The City: Critical essays in human geography. Aldershot, 

Ashgate Publishing Limited.


The book “Le feu au lac” 39, by Avenir Suisse first does a review of spatial development 

in Switzerland, and then presents the forces and weaknesses of the country, as well 

as its development potential. The books’ main argument is that Geneva Lake region 

has reached the size of a real metropolis with a consequent amount of commuters. 

While benefiting from several advantages (taxes rates, innovation, accessibility), the 

region also suffers from numerous troubles like political fragmentation and lack of 

regional governance. 

Focusing on 5 specific themes (economy, urbanisation process, learning region 

concept, governance, international identification), the think tank publishes 12 general 

proposals translated above 40 

: 

Three issues and three priorities for urbanism and architecture 

by Manuel Castells 

Through the examples of Los Angeles, Mexico City and the Catalan region, Manuel 

Castells gives in this chapter three issues and three priorities to be developed in the 

future in metropolitan urbanism and architecture 41 . First, Castells mentions the main 

issues: multimodal communication system, public space preservation, dispersion all 

around urban regions and their strengthening against privatisation and finally institutional 

coordination at a metropolitan scale. The French sociologist also gives 3 

lines of action: first, planning mobility and connectivity, while considering telecommunication 

and transportation as complementary and not competitive. Second, 

environmental management, especially about water supply and cleaning, epidemic 

risks and pollution and third the diffusion of meaning through the city, because too 

many places lack symbolic and cultural signification. On this last subject, he gives the 

example of Barcelona, which managed to use the opportunity of the Olympic Games 

to give back meaning to its streets and places. 

39 Comtesse, X. & C. Van der Poel, (Eds.) (2006) Le feu au lac. Genève, Avenir Suisse. 

40 French verion: http://avenir-suisse.ch/en/publikationen/studien-tagungberichte.html 

41 Castells, M. (2006) The Networked City: Réseaux, espace, société, EspaceTemps.net. 

[49]


Time Management as a Tool for Swiss Spatial 

Development 

[50] 

[?] 

How can time management be taken into account to strengthen urbanity? 

Considering the time issue as a social question, how is it possible to integrate 

its dimensions (mobility, accessibility, proximity…) into urban fabrics? 

Urbanity, mobility, accessibility, density…How can these 

concepts help Switzerland to take on its urban scales? 

Another element to go further into in the reflection on how to strengthen urbanity is 

the concept of time as a solution to urban sprawl. Urban matters can also be resolved 

through time management policies. However, the strong implication and encouragement 

of local governments is needed to achieve it. Ascher proposes several leads 

in this sense, while an international conference dealt with this theme in Barcelona in 

2006. The main statements of these reflections are given below. 

Time Citizenship Conference Barcelona 

“The first conclusion is, perhaps, the most obvious. Time has become a scarce resource. 

Secondly, time is one of the foundations of people’s physical and psychological balance. 

It is a pillar of health. 

We have also seen that not being able to manage our time, not feeling it to be our own, 

is a factor in the social and economic discrimination that especially affects women, due 

to their substantial difference from men who dispose of an unlimited credit or time for 

social activity, in a society where the rules of the game are still sexist. Changing them 

involves changing social and personal attitudes regarding the value of the usage of time, 

and, more importantly, considering the usage of time as a social question. It is a question 

of social responsibility. 

From a progressive point of view, another of the issues that has become very clear is 

the need for public administrations to set up and develop Public Policies regarding the 

Social Usage of Time. These policies must consider time and its usage and management 

as a right of citizenship. Considering time as a right of citizenship opens the door to a 

new cultural, social, and economic revolution. It means reconsidering the design of our 

cities and the structure of our society, putting the focus on people and their need to use 

time, depending on their stage of life, social role, and gender.”

Chrono-urbanisme approach by François Ascher 


Area 1. Time Policies. The State of the Issue and Trends 

“Conciliating individual-group time, work time–leisure, time for others, while looking 

out for equality of opportunities.” 

Participation/involvement of all social agents in the design of public time policies. 

Area 2. Time in the Organisation of the City and Public Space 

“Sustainable development should be conceived of taking the issue of time into 

account.” 

Mobility is not only transport, but also involves accessibility, time. 

Rethink the notion of “proximity”. 

As a good belonging to the city, not only geographically and statically, but also 

transformed by technology and mobile services, in constant expansion. 

As a particular dimension of space that can serve as positive repair for the “new nomads,” 

but as a hiding place for the “excluded.” 

Area 3. The Adaptation of Services to People’s Time 

“...the perspective of gender as a foundation for time policy work, to achieve well-being 

for people”. 

“...the need to make social services one of the pillars of the new time policies”. 

Good practice: Neighbourhood time, shared educational time. Based on a totally 

participative methodology. 

Area 4. The Value of Time and Social Changes 

“Changing the differences between men and women means changing discourses and 

values.” 

Changes in the usage of time are very slow because they depend on structural changes. 

In the working world, a change from the culture of presence to the culture of efficiency 

is proposed. 1 

1 Ajuntament de Barcelona (2006) International conference "Time ctizenschip and city." Generall 

conclusions,16. 

Ascher differentiates several temporal orders in his article 42 : economic, institutional, 

familial and religious ones. He explains that the industrial city’s order was mainly governed 

by the economic order, while today’s situation is a lot more complex. Leisure 

has become increasingly important in our daily routine , much more overlapped than 

it used to be. Today we are faced with some kind of schizophrenia among citizens: 

they are (we are) demanding a city open 24 hours a day as consumer, and asking for 

working hours compatible with family life and family time as employees. Individual 

42 Ascher, F. (1997) "Du vivre en juste à temps au chrono-urbanisme", Les Annales de la recherche 

urbaine 77: 112-122. 

[51]


wishes and autonomy needs become increasingly relevant in peoples’ choices. ”L’exigence 

individuelle grandit: il ne s’agit plus seulement d’avoir un peu d’espace et un peu de 

temps pour soi, mais d’avoir l’espace et le temps à soi, au travail, dans le logement comme 

dans la ville. “ The arrival of household appliances like freezers and ready-made meals 

help us with time management. Furthermore, mobility and mobile communication 

technologies also play an important role. Finally, multimedia and computer environments 

modify our schedule, beginning with our organisation of work. 

“La ville résiste avec ses habitudes et ses certitudes. Les mentalités des usagers sont 

parfois plus résistantes que les murs.” 

Consequently, what shall we do to take into account current rhythms of life? Ascher 

gives some answer. The first responsibility of local governments is to ensure real and 

fair accessibility to public services. They also must facilitate the extension of opening 

and functional hours of services and private stores and coordinate them. Authorities 

must encourage transportation during events like “White Nights”, on Sundays and 

bank holidays. Last but not least, they need to integrate a temporal dimension into 

urban design. The city is a combination of places, movements and times. In order to 

design, realise, and manage cities, one must take into account simultaneously the 

built environment, flows and schedules. Ascher evokes the possibility of instituting 

price differentiation in public transportation according to peak hours. “Peut-être 

aussi faudra-t-il se résoudre à imaginer, sinon un zonage temporel des activités, tout au 

moins une qualification temporelle des divers territoires?” This idea has recently been 

proposed by the Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy 

and Communication Moritz Leuenberger, and has started a debate in the media. Ascher 

concludes that our society must reflect on how to manage speed and individual 

needs. “(…) Il serait temps – si l’on peut dire – de réfléchir aux moyens que notre société 

urbaine doit mettre en œuvre pour dominer sa vitesse et pour éviter que les exigences de 

maîtrise individuelle du temps et de l’espace ne produisent pas de nouveaux effets négatifs 

individuels et sociaux." 

[52] 

Time citizenship Conference, Barcelona 

An international conference took place in Barcelona in 2006 on the theme of time 

and the city 43 

. Its conclusions, reproduced above stress the need to consider them in 

a social perspective. This for example includes gender issues. 

43 Ajuntament de Barcelona (2006) International conference "Time ctizenschip and city" Generall 

conclusions,16.


Redistribution of cards in the flexible city by Luc Gwiazdzinski 

Rapid changes in the way in which we relate to space, time and modes of transport, 

coupled with an ever-widening gap between cities and their communities, are forcing 

researchers, authorities and citizens to adopt radically new approaches. Luc 

Gwiazdzinski re-examines the spatio-temporal relationship with a city in order to 

suggest ways in which the urban fabric may be improved, based on the concept of 

the "flexible city” 44 . He goes on to explore a new kind of town planning, new usage 

rules and more ergonomic spatio-temporal planning. Finally, he looks at new “on-site” 

urban identity cards that transform the user into a “temporary citizen” and give the 

traveller better “mobility” here and now “La ville s’étale dans l’espace et dans le temps 

sans que les outils classiques d’aménagement semblent capables de proposer une quelconque 

maîtrise de son développement.” 

Gwiazdzsinksi raises the question : in the absence of collective time how can we 

make/be society ? He mentions best practises led by Italy with public councils of 

time, and as in Germany with a Time Office (Zeitbüro). Other experiments exist in the 

Netherlands and France, to name but a few. The city is malleable, and street furniture 

has to be versatile as well. Gwiazdzinski mentions several fields in which to create a 

more flexible city: hospitality, information, quality, urban equality, sensitivity, variety, 

unexpectedness, alternation, security and enchantment. On the whole, the researcher 

stresses the following aspects: the “right to the city” (le droit à la ville), participation, 

urban equality and polycentrism. “Il est nécessaire de redonner de l’épaisseur au 

temps, des horizons à l’espace, de la densité aux mobilités et un sens à la citoyenneté.” 

44 Gwiazdzinski, L. (2007) "Redistribution of cards in the flexible city", Espace, populations, sociétés 

(2-3): 397-410. 

[53]


1. Questions about Space from the Viewpoint of the 

Individual 

[?] 

[56] 

Is urban sprawl inevitable, or could individual lifestyles be 

brought into accordance with another urban model? 

Must individual wishes always be granted even if they are in contradiction 

with principles of environmental sustainability, and to what extent? 

How could a participative methodology be helpful?

Space as Seen by Individuals 

2. How Could we put Ourselves into the Shoes of 

Swiss Urban Dwellers? 

[?] 

If individuals’ wishes should be granted, how can this be 

achieved with the fewest negative side-effects? 

If individuals’ wishes should not be granted, how can one 

convince city dwellers of the positive qualities inherent 

in lifestyles associated with denser living areas? 

Chapter I presented the general urban characteristics of Swiss and European contexts. 

The second chapter will now focus on the way individuals see their living environment. 

The term “individuals” refers in the present document to new players taking 

part in urban development rather than specialists (i.e. urban planners, architects, 

politicians, academics), this approach has been chosen in order to answer crucial research 

questions in the spatial sciences, and as an answer to the increasing power 

accorded to city dwellers. Undoubtedly, Swiss spatial development does not quite 

follow the consensual direction claimed by politicians and scientists, i.e. to put an 

urgent brake on urban sprawl. If this position is commonly admitted among specialists, 

but space is not, however, developed according to principles of compactness 

and density, then there must be relevant players wielding influence in the action at 

stake. Putting ourselves in the shoes of city dwellers should enable us to understand 

which interactions and contradictions they face in dealing with actors traditionally 

influential in land-development . 

pl a n o f t h e c h a p t e r 

Some facts about the spread of single-detached houses in Switzerland will first show 

which regions are most concerned by this issue, and to what extent they are affected 

(i.e. ex-urbanisation; amount of and increase in the construction rate of singledetached 

houses). Several research results will be mentioned in order to outline the 

Swiss context. These studies include for example increase in built surfaces, urban 

migration, housing, education and income. After this introduction, the market for 

single-detached houses and its inevitable dependency on individual motor vehicles 

will be demonstrated, accompanied by another set of case studies (i.e. Nantes, 

Rennes, the Netherlands and Belgium). Until now, the combination of these two 

[57]


phenomena (single-detached house + individual car) always led to urban sprawl. The 

first question is thus raised: Is urban sprawl inevitable, or could individual lifestyles be 

accommodated by another urban model? 

What options do spatial planners, architects, and politicians have for resolving the 

current disagreement of their rather consensual points-of-view with the many 

housing demands of citizens, while providing well-coordinated spatial development? 

This raises another set of questions: Do individual wishes have to be granted, even if 

they are in contradiction with principles of environmental sustainability, and to what 

extent? 

A) If individuals' wishes must be granted, how can this be achieved with the fewest 

negative side-effects? 

Some about the social impacts of dispersed spatial development will be mentioned 

in order to recall that the single-detached housing development model can be less 

positive than expected, even from the point-of-view of the inhabitants themselves. 

Studies regarding territorial and social exclusion of modest households has 

demonstrated this point. 

B) If individuals' wishes should not be granted, how does one convince city dwellers 

of the positive qualities inherent in lifestyles associated with denser living areas? 

Here, a discussion on how to best lend value to dense settlement will be introduced 

through the use of several novel concepts (i.e. extroverted proximity, density 

combined with quality), and accompanied by suggestions for solutions to fuel the 

debate, such as the construction of towers, and High density – Low-rise. Whatever 

the option chosen, of what help could a participative methodology possibly be? 

Case studies in Nantes and Lyon, a German citizens' jury and Dutch practices will be 

proposed as sources of inspiration. 

[58]


3. Some Facts about Urban Sprawl and the Housing 

Model in Switzerland 

[?] 

Are the compact city and the sprawling city the only 

two possible alternative for urban growth? 

Is a construction rate of 1m 2 /s good news or bad news? 

How can the negative aspects of living outside of cities, as well 

as the quality of life in Swiss cities be made apparent? 

How can the wish to live near nature be brought in 

accord with the need to protect its ecosystems? 

How can the wish of living in a single-detached house be 

reconciled with the necessary curtailing of urban sprawl? 

To begin with, let us state some facts about Swiss land use and housing rental 

duration which illustrate the relationship between housing preferences and the 

advance of urban sprawl. Afterwards, some authors are quoted in order to provide a 

context for the question of urban sprawl in Switzerland. The now-well-known rate of 

1m 2 of soil disappearing every second is demystified by Salomon Cavin and Pavillon. 

Three maps then show where single-detached houses are most built and where this 

housing model is being developed. 

wh y Is It necessar y to t a k e In t o a c c o u n t t h e In h a b It a n t s' p o It n t-o fv 

I e w? 

”Why do urban dwellers idealise rural settlements?” This was the topic question at the 

Cerisy colloquium in 2007 presented by Joëlle Salomon Cavin and represented in an 

article 45 . The hypothesis proposed was that there are three sources of influence on 

the suburban development model: European, Asian and American. The colloquium 

rather failed in questioning the conflict of compact city vs. sprawling city, opposed to 

each other, perhaps wrongly, through the concept of sustainable development as the 

45 Salomon Cavin, J. (2006) "La ville-campagne, ville insoutenable ?", Nature, Sciences et Sociétés 

14: 409-415. 

[59]


only two possible alternatives. Salomon Cavin questioned the missed opportunity for 

discussing this topic46 . We should not forget that the sprawling city (ville campagne) 

is the ideal of a majority of the population, as concluded the geographer. 

Salomon Cavin suggests that future studies deepen their research into the points-ofview 

of inhabitants of single-detached housing areas. This is what SpaceWatch 2010 

wants to do with this first topic as dealt with in the February workshop. Salomon 

Cavin also stressed the need for interdisciplinary research on this topic, as well as 

in-situ research. In conclusion, she suggested47 , quoting Jean Rémy, adopting a 

“positive conscience” of suburban space and considering it as a place where anything 

can happen (le péri urbain comme lieu de toutes les possibilités) meaning devoid of 

prejudice. 

Sprawled City, Unsustainable City? 

“Do not sustainable models of living exist in peri urban spaces? Is compact city the 

only sustainable development alternative possible? Can only the traditional dense and 

well-delimited city be a sustainable alternative to urban process? Is denunciation of peri 

urban residential areas a good way to make people love the city?” 1 

1 Salomon Cavin, J. (2006) "La ville-campagne, ville insoutenable ?", Nature, Sciences et Sociétés 

14: 409-415. 

[60] 

la n d u s e a n d u r a t Io n o f r e n t In sw It z e r l a n d 

On average, Swiss citizens occupy 397m 2 . According to the region considered, this area 

varies from 131 to 711m 2 . The Swiss Federal Strategy for Sustainable Development 

(2002) aims to limit this extension of land use per capita to 400 m 2 . The duration of 

ownership in Switzerland is 10 to 11 years for private houses, and 5 to 6 for rented 

houses, which is slightly longer than in the USA (7 and 2.5 years). Therefore, new 

houses have to be built to answer the current housing demand of especially in the 

biggest metropolises in Switzerland (Zurich and Geneva mainly). 

Is sw Is s te r r I to r y b u Il t a r t h e r a t e o f 1m 2 / second? 

Space Watch 2008 aimed to provoke with its interrogative title “1m 2 /second?”. In Swiss 

newspaper Le Temps Joëlle Salomon Cavin and Pierre-Alain Pavillon review this myth 

to see how this indicator is really constructed. Since the controversial formula was 

pronounced by Max Frisch in 1955, Swiss media always use the famous expression 

“1m 2 /s” which expresses the surface being built every second in Switzerland. This is 

approximately the size of a football field. The reasons for this are firstly the increasing 

46 Ibid. 

47 Ibid.


amount of population, and secondly, the increasing surface per capita48 . Current use 

of built surface in Switzerland is considered a luxury in an article published in NZZ49 . 

This term is in need of some explanation to be correctly understood, as Salomon 

Cavin and Pavillon50 explain in an article by Le Temps. The authors suggest that this 

figure has been used in a misleading way by numerous media and professional 

publications. As of 1955, Swiss writer and architect Max Frisch, sociologist Lucius 

Burkhardt and historian Markus Kutter had already proposed that 1m2 of agricultural 

land was disappearing every three seconds, which became an official statistic 

represented by the rate of 1m2 per second between 1992 and 1997. This observation 

of course rings like an alarm bell, because such a rate of spatial development would 

not seem sustainable. 

Far from denying the problem of sustainability in spatial development, the authors 

wanted to show that this statistic was misunderstood. 1m2 /second actually represents 

the construction rate for residential space and infrastructure. What the majority of 

people confronted with this number are unaware of is that this term contains 36 

categories of land-use, among which are public squares, athletic facilities, golf clubs 

and football fields, camp sites, family gardens and cemeteries. It also contains the 

spaces around built structures, which constitute about 20% of all built areas. So, as 

the authors say, if the city is growing by 1m2 /second in a compact way, close to public 

transportation networks, it is even good news with regard to the housing shortage 

afflicting most of the larger Swiss cities. 

The real problem that we should be able to see is the waste of land caused by urban 

sprawl and the dependency on the individual car provoked at the same time. “En 

insistant sur le bétonnage du territoire, on ne met pas l’accent sur le vrai problème qui est 

le nombre de mètres carrés gaspillés par des constructions éparpillées. Ce mitage est non 

seulement avide de sol mais induit également l’utilisation de la voiture individuelle, source 

de pollution et de nuisances incompatibles avec un développement durable du territoire 

Suisse.” According to Salomon Cavin and Pavillon, what spatial planners should 

achieve is making the representation of Swiss territory evolve and insist on the negative 

aspect of living outside cities, searching for nature, while destroying they are in 

actual fact destroying it. And on the other hand, they should emphasize the quality 

of urban life in Swiss cities. 

48 Brand, C. (06.09.2009) "Der Platz wird knapp: Die Schweizer Bevölkerung wächst rasant - 

Wohin mit all den Menschen?" Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). 

49 Schneider, M. (05.04.2009) "Eigentümlicher Wachstum." Ibid. 

50 Salomon Cavin, J. (11.02.2009) Le Temps. 

[61]


1m2 of Concrete Laid every Second? Good News! 

“Il est beaucoup plus facile d’alerter l’opinion sur les destructions du paysage causées par 

la nappe urbaine que d’expliquer que la maison individuelle, symbole du bonheur suisse, 

est la principale responsable de l’avancée de l’urbanisation. 

Dans la recherche d’une utilisation mesurée du sol, il est primordial de faire évoluer 

les représentations du territoire suisse et cesser de brandir la menace du mètre carré 

de béton. D’un côté, il faut insister sur les travers de ce désir d’habitat en dehors des 

villes, où la recherche d’une proximité avec la nature en tant que paysage aboutit à la 

destruction de la nature en tant qu’écosystème. Et de l’autre, il faut rappeler la qualité de 

la vie dans les villes suisses pour donner envie d’y vivre.” 1 

1 Salomon Cavin, J. & Pavillon P.-A. (11.02.2009) "La Suisse s’urbanise et alors?", Le Temps. 

[64] 

wh e r e a r e s In g l e -detached houses b u Il t? 

The map51 in figure 12 illustrates places where the construction of single-detached 

houses has been growing up until 1990, (no more recent map found). Lake shores 

are especially appreciated, as well as the Valais and Ticino valleys, and the Zurich 

metropolis in general (reaching until Basel and Lucerne). 

The second map52 shows the latest changes in the construction of single-detached 

houses in Switzerland. It indicates where the total amount of single-detached houses 

is the highest. Again, lake shores are strongly concerned, as well as the Ticino valley 

and the Basel region, with almost 45% of buildings being single-family homes. This 

information shows us where the territory is built according to a housing model 

which seldom allows for densification. Let us now have a look at where urban space 

has become less dense, and to the contrary where it is getting denser. The map53 shows in Figure 3 places where density has increased (in red) over the past 25 years 

in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The Geneva metropolitan area is getting 

denser, as expressed by the current housing crisis. The rest of the area surrounding 

Lake Geneva is also filling up, while other places in French-speaking Switzerland are 

not growing in density. To the contrary, places marked in green, like the Neuchâtel 

mountains, the rear of the Jura range or the north of the city of Bern as well as the city 

of Fribourg are losing inhabitants. 

A comparison of figure 12 with figure 13 shows that the individual house is not the 

only reason for a dispersed urbanisation pattern. For example, the West shore of Lake 

Geneva is getting very dense, and in relation to this, a lot of family houses are being 

constructed in the same zone. 

51 Office fédéral de la statistique (2000) Maisons individuelles: accroissement de 1980 à 1990. 

Neuchâtel, Office fédéral de la statistique. 

52 Office fédéral de la statistique (2000) Pourcentage des maisons individuelles, en 1990, Neuchâtel, 

Office fédéral de la statistique. 

53 Dessemontet, P., A. Jarne, & al. (2009) "Suisse romande, les facettes d’une région affirmée", Forum 

des 100 - édition 2009: 28.


4. What are Citizens’ Views about Spatial Planning? 

[?] 

What are city dwellers looking for while making their housing choices? 

How can their lifestyle preferences be integrated 

into spatial planning processes? 

How can spatial planning adapt itself to the increasing 

diversity of living options and locations? 

Let us now try to put ourselves into the shoes city dwellers. What are they looking 

for in suburban space? The NRP 54 research programme led by the Urban Sociology 

Laboratory at EPFL worked on, “what do families look for, and what do they want to 

avoid?”. 

The LaSUR laboratory approaches this question through lifestyles, meaning the 

combination of elements which give meaning to peoples' lives, especially regarding 

their way of inhabiting, meeting one another and using infrastructures. “Each of 

these dimensions reflects an aspect of our built social environment: the sensitive aspect 

(dwelling), the social aspect (meeting) and the functional aspect (utilizing). The quality of 

life for a given place depends on these three dimensions and varies according to the ways 

of living of each family.” LaSUR’s research (quantitative and qualitative) was applied 

to the Swiss agglomerations of Bern and Lausanne. The final report contains ten 

statements and three recommendations for all Swiss urban actors. 

Another contribution to the PNR 54 research project 54 

, led by Daniel Wiener, was the 

following remark on the lifestyle of a suburban dwellers. Wiener suggests that the 

modern citizen lives as a poet, meaning that his home is his opus. For this reason, 

individual houses offering more opportunities for individualisation constitute a more 

favourable place to develop one's aspirations. 

Further research about dwelling modes in the current individualist society of Canadian 

cities stresses the increasing diversity of living options. Results show that dwelling 

location is related to education and income. “It was observed that persons having 

attended university, regardless of their age or income, live mostly in the central districts, 

contrary to the suburbs where there are mainly more affluent, but less educated people, 

54 Henri Lefebvre (Tracé 2009 07 p.26). 

[65]


which suggest that these locational choices are strongly dependent on workplaces”. It also 

mentions that single people are particularly mobile and will continue to be. Rationales 

for higher mobility in the single population are access to better housing conditions and 

ownership. In conclusion, the desire to live in a suburban context are common among 

the Canadian population. 

What do Families Seek? 

PNR 54 Urban Habitat Research 

In Switzerland, as in many European countries, we have witnessed massive urban sprawl 

of non-dense individual housing outside of the fabric of cities (peri-urbanisation) 

over the past few decades. Many territorial specialists and professionals recommend 

fighting against urban sprawl, but does this not contradict in some ways the goals of 

the population, and more particularly, those of families, as far as ways of living are 

concerned? 

Developing urban politics as well as city planning and architectural projects that lean 

towards this ideal means having a solid understanding of the dynamics of family 

residential choices so as to comprehend what they are looking to procure or avoid. In 

view of this, we have systematically taken stock of the various factors in the balance 

when a family decides to uproot from one location and plant its roots elsewhere. We 

started from the hypothesis that decisions about residential location do not merely stem 

from a comparison in terms of price or size of a living space, but also from architectural 

and social factors that determine the quality of life in a given location.” 1 

1 Pattaroni, L., Thomas M.-P. ,& al. (June 2009) Habitat urbain durable pour les familles: Enquête 

sur les arbitrages de localisation résidentielle des familles dans les agglomérations de Berne et 

Lausanne Cahier du LaSUR, Laboratoire de Sociologie Urbaine. Lausanne, Ecole Polytechnique 

Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). 

Urban Habitat: 

Recommendations Resulting from LaSUR's Research 

“It is important to consider differences of ways of living if we are to develop attractive, 

sustainable urban neighborhoods geared towards families. This means developing a 

way a planning for different ways of living that aims to maximize the accommodation 

potential of the built environment with residential lifestyles. 

The characteristics of the surrounding areas play a central role in the quality of life 

for families; moreover, they are important in reducing the consumption of greenhouse 

gases. 

The sustainable character of the urban habitat does not automatically result from the 

addition of environmental, economic and social indicators, but rather results from the 

aligning of these dimensions by the families and individuals themselves.” 

[66]


“Dans le pavillon, d’une façon sans doute mesquine, l’homme moderne habite en poète. 

Entendons par là que son habiter est un peu son œuvre. L’espace dont il dispose pour 

réorganiser selon ses tendances et selon ses rythmes garde une certaine plasticité. Il se 

prête aux aménagements. Ce n’est pas le cas d’un espace fourni aux locataires et aux 

copropriétaires dans un ensemble.” 1 

1 Henri Lefebvre (Tracé 2009 07 p.26). 

Behaviour Individualistaion Research: 

Education and Income Determine Dwelling Location 

“Since the second half of the last century, lifestyles and living options have changed 

significantly. The transition to a post-industrial society came with a change in social 

relations mainly organized around the traditional family. In fact, in less than forty years, 

families, who once represented practically the only form of domestic organization, 

have become just one of many lifestyles. The individualization of behaviours and the 

increasingly marked difficulty for individuals to live in couples has resulted in the 

emergence of new lifestyles and, by the same token, new living options. These lifestyles 

and living options are now combined into various forms: traditional families, singleparent 

families, couples with no children, individuals living together and individuals 

living alone. Among these forms, individuals living alone are the most representative 

of these new types of domestic organization. Industrialized countries have seen their 

proportions of one-person households explode from just a few per cent less than 40 

years ago to nearly 40% in some cases. (...) 

Although, for the majority of single persons, the city remains a preferred place to live, 

the fact remains that many have suburban aspirations. Almost 55% of those who aspire 

to own a home plan to buy a property off the Island of Montréal, and around 45% would 

like to move into a single-family home, while just 5% would prefer to live in a building 

with more than nine units. (…) 

What the study will have shown is that one-person households are still steadily on the 

rise and that they increasingly represent active players on the private rental housing 

market. Even if these people, especially the women, are concentrated near the central 

districts as they age, they seem to be adopting suburban behaviours, which raises fears 

of a new urban exodus. ” 1 

1 Gill, D. & F. Charbonneau (December 2006) Individualisation des comportements et modes d'habiter. 

Rapport final présenté à la Société Canadienne d'Hypothèques et de Logement (SCHL). 

Université de Montréal, Institut d'urbanisme: 166. 

[67]


5. Single-Detached Housing Market 

[68] 

[?] 

Is living in a single-detached house still an ideal in Switzerland? 

If this housing model is no longer a dream, how can this 

paradigm shift be best supported by architects and city planners 

in order to find new housing and mobility solutions? 

ha s t h e s In g l e -detached m o d e l o f h o u s In g b e c o m e o b s o l e t e? 

According to the author of the following quote about the city and architecture in 

Switzerland and in the World more generally, the single-detached model of housing 

has become obsolete, even if it continues to develop. Some elements have to be taken 

into account in order to better understand this phenomenon. Chenal first mentions the 

individual car, which is strongly correlated to the development of single-family housing 

areas. They both depend upon each other, and have to be considered as such in the 

reflection about urbanisation processes. Secondly, the family model, with its ideal image 

of a two-child household in a house of its own is also bound up with the wish for a 

detached house. A third, environmental concern is gaining in consideration. Lastly, 

Chenal mentions the rural image that Switzerland holds dear. A spread-out dwelling 

area belongs to a rural model of living, which strictly speaking is not urban. 

Single-Detached House: The End of a Model? 1 

“La voiture. A l’instar de la boîte de conserve qui n’a pu se développer qu’avec son 

corollaire : l’ouvre-boîte, ou du gratte-ciel qui naît en même temps que l’invention 

de l’ascenseur, la villa est indissociable d’un mode de transport : la voiture. La villa 

et la voiture forment un système. Et l’action sur la production de villas, et donc sur 

l’étalement urbain passe obligatoirement par la compréhension de ce système. Les zones 

villas n’étant pas denses, demandent des modes de transports individuels et à l’inverse 

ce mode de transport s’épanouit mieux dans les zones à faibles densités où il peut être 

présent en nombre sans connaître les désagréments des zones denses, synonymes de 

trafic congestionné et de pollution. 

“La campagne. La Suisse est avant tout rurale et elle véhicule cette image de la ruralité. Il 

faut se rendre à l’évidence que l’habitat dispersé – la maison individuelle - est un modèle 

1 Chenal, J. (2008) La villa: la fin d’un modèle?, Working paper, Lausanne, EPFL: 3. Lausanne, 

EPFL.


rural, que le modèle d’habitation reprend le modèle des constructions vernaculaires et ne 

fait pas référence à la ville. On nage ici, dans une distorsion, entre l’image de la Suisse 

urbaine et l’histoire des modèles. Le foncier bon marché n’est pas urbain et la propriété 

ne l’est pas moins. Alors que le campagnard est propriétaire de sa terre, l’urbain est 

locataire du monde, c’est une différence fondamentale qui se voit directement sur la 

forme urbaine. La ville étalée n’est qu’une miniaturisation de la campagne. Chacun a 

une demeure sur un vaste domaine, avec un chemin qui y mène…sauf que le vaste 

domaine mesure maintenant 700 mètres carrés et permet ainsi de mettre plusieurs fois 

la campagne sur une très petite surface. Les forêts deviennent des bosquets, la piscine 

remplace le lac, le chemin s’est réduit à quelques pavés entre la route et la porte d’entrée. 

L’automobile devient une pièce maîtresse de la vie, et c’est bien une invention de la 

ruralité, car le véhicule, utilitaire à l’origine, permet d’arpenter la campagne. On retombe 

ici sur la villa et l’automobile comme système unique.” 

Chenal argues that due to the decline of the single-detached housing model, the current 

economic crisis and the recent increase in fuel prices, the continuing dual relationship 

of the single-detached-house and the individual car has weak future perspectives. This 

is also true of the family model, because today’s families are more often recomposed. 

There is more hesitation in real estate investment and a bigger need for flexibility and 

affordable rental possibilities for single households. On the environmental side, singledetached 

houses spoil the very landscape qualities the countryside has to offer: “La villa 

et l’environnement, c’est le gâteau que l’on veut à la fois manger et garder”. Furthermore, the 

author denounces the higher municipal infrastructural costs of urban sprawl, paid for by 

community tax-payers, and inhabitants of denser areas. He furthermore denounces the 

external costs, in terms of health and environment, of urban sprawl. 

“Les coûts de construction, d’entretien et de remplacement des linéaires de canalisation 

d’eau, de système d’évacuation des eaux usées, de bitume sont plus élevés que ce que 

rapportent à la commune les contribuables. Les habitants des quartiers denses payent 

donc pour les plus riches, ceux qui ont les moyens d’habiter dans une villa. C’est un 

subventionnement du riche par le pauvre. Au-delà de cette vision cynique, les coûts 

externes de l’extension urbaine (santé, environnement) ne sont, bien sûr, pas pris en 

compte et il y a fort à parier que la balance pencherait encore plus.” 1 

1 Ibid. 

In conclusion, Chenal considers the current situation as the beginning of a new paradigm 

in which investments will be concentrated in urban agglomerations, as is slowly 

happening for the public distribution of resources. He asserts that the population does 

not necessarily wish to live in single-detached houses, even if it remains for many of 

them the only choice for owning real estate at a reasonable cost. From this moment 

onwards, two attitudes are possible: either support this paradigm shift by testing new 

[69]


solutions, especially in housing types and by putting into practice specialised knowledge 

in mobility and land-use management, or carry on with current policies in the hopes that 

the phenomenon will stop by itself, firstly in the centres for the benefit of the richest. 

[70] 

“lo w-c o s t ” s In g l e -detached h o u s In g m a r k e t 

The desire for open spaces is fairly easily fulfilled, since several different possibilities for 

single-detached houses are being developed, as mentioned in a recent article published 

in the Swiss magazine l'Hebdo 55 . 

The magazine publishes a new offer by Swiss supermarket Coop: “low-cost“ minergy-P 

single-detached houses. The supermarket chain proposes a model for CHF 299’900 and 

another supermarket chain proposes one for CHF 99’999 in the exhibition village of Suhr 

(AG). There are two remarks to be made about these new offers. Firstly, the price depends 

upon the location, as quoted prices include only the ready-made construction, and not 

excavation or tax costs. Secondly, as an interviewee mentioned, how energy-saving is a 

house in which all of its components are brought by lorry from Eastern Europe? 

Figure 14 Exhibition village Suhr (AG), www. 

homegateexpo.ch 

55 Dao, J. (22.10.2009) "Villa "low-cost", vraiment?" L'Hebdo: 28-29.

6. Dependency on Individual Motor Vehicles 


[?] 

Can we live without an individual motor vehicle outside of city centers? 

Can public policies regarding public transportations change commuter 

habits and reduce dependency on the automobile, as in Holland? 

How can a way be found to reduce relative commute times 

between automobile and public transportation? 

How can natural areas be developed and shared in city centres? 

As it has already been repeated several times in this document, the problem of urban 

sprawl is mainly related to two interdependent phenomena: Housing models and transportation 

models. They definitely have to be thought of together in spatial planning. 

This new section introduces the relationship which a dispersed built environment has 

with individual motor vehicles, while Chapter III “What if...? A Post-Car World“ will look 

at this question in depth with reflections on the consequences of such an idealistic and 

provocative proposition. 

ho w c a n h o u s In g a n d t ra n s p o r t at I o n p l a n s b e w e l l -c o o r d In a t e d? 

Positive changes in family lifestyle from an individual point of view, such as the emancipation 

of women or the freedom of teenagers imply negative social effects, such as 

climate warming, over-use of free surface area for construction or social segregation. 

Today, we try to provide those qualities in dense settlements, which urban dwellers sought 

in the countryside. 

As illustrated in the article by Pinson and Thomann, suburban dwellers might have a 

disenchantment with their suburban situation. While they got used to maximising daily 

trips during the week in order to reduce the amount of movements necessary during the 

weekend, the maturation of children into teenagers provokes some additional troubles. 

Mothers often convert to the role of taxi-driver when the children start attending school 

and social activities. The fear of urban dangers (gangs, traffic, drugs and alcohol) encourages 

parents to convey their children by vehicle instead of letting them hang around 

while waiting for infrequent bus rides. 

[71]


[72] 

ca n w e l Iv e w It h o u t a c a r? 

Two interesting questions were raised by a stakeholder in the debate that followed a 

citizens' workshop in the metropolis of Nantes Saint-Nazaire: Is not the current economic 

crisis an opportunity to question modal choices? Can we live without a car? If both 

answers are affirmative, what shall we use instead? Shouldn't we begin to start thinking 

about these things/topics? The quotation below reports the experience of four inhabitants 

from the city of Nantes, who renounced their car for a few months. Although all of 

them mentioned a positive outcome, it is obvious that such modal changes are only possible 

in centres. Thus, the issue is the model of development promoted by authorities, 

which should allow the preservation of the quality of environment and of life. 

ho w d o e s o n e o v e r c o m e t h e prestIge assocIated w It h a u t o m o b Il e s In f a v o u r 

o f o t h e r t ra n s p o r t at I o n m o d e s ? 

The study 56 by Bauselle, Darris, Ollivro and Pihan confirms the high prestige and comfort 

associated with individual vehicles. This prestige makes capturing traffic flows very difficult. 

Public financial contributions are restrained or even encourage suburban construction 

and motorisation. The authors also emphasise tax deduction possibilities in France 

for costs of transport. Furthermore, they wonder: “How can the urban transportation offer 

around a middle size city contribute both to reduce road traffic linked to automobile dependency 

without harming mobility in general?” 

Literature shows that increasing the supply of public transportation through dedicated 

bus lanes increases the use of the buses. In consequence, this strategy increases bus modal 

share, without necessarily reducing individual motorised traffic. The city of Rennes 

introduced a single ticket combining car and metro or train and metro, in collaboration 

with the French Railway Company SNCF. 

A Problematic Moves Management 

“La gestion des déplacements quotidiens aura été maximisée pendant la semaine pour 

éviter la corvée des achats domestiques au cours du week-end, le panel des modes 

opératoires variant fortement selon la situation d’emploi du conjoint et l’âge des enfants. 

À l’adolescence, la localisation périurbaine fait alors apparaître les complications 

qu’entraînent des inscriptions scolaires différenciées selon l’âge des enfants mais aussi 

redistribuées selon la réputation des établissements et l’invitation à contourner la carte 

scolaire que favorise l’avantage de la mobilité. Les mamans taxis ont ainsi prospéré sur 

fond d’étalement urbain accru. 

56 Baudelle G., Darris G. Ollivro J. & Pihan J, Consequences of a counterurban residential choice on 

mobility: pracices and representations of the households, Cybergeo: Revue européenne de géographie, 

n°287, 15 octobre 2004, GT23.


Le projet initial perd de son enchantement. Le devoir de “bonheur” que l’on s’est attaché 

à accomplir au profit des enfants ne coïncide plus avec cette vision de petit paradis 

que l’on se faisait du jardin entourant la maison ; les impératifs de la réussite scolaire 

pèsent plus lourdement ; l’expression de la personnalité des adolescents, prise dans le 

mouvement d’individuation qui caractérise l’ensemble de la société, adultes compris, est 

soumise à un contrôle qui portera moins sur des exigences propres aux mœurs du “temps” 

des parents que sur les nouveaux dangers de la société d’aujourd’hui : les rumeurs de 

racket, les dangers de la circulation, la tentation de la drogue et de la boisson, autant 

d’obsessions qui invitent à ne pas les laisser traîner en ville, dans l’attente de transports 

insuffisamment fréquents, et par conséquent à se dévouer pour aller les chercher et 

encombrer la ville encore davantage. ” 

“En conclusion… 

L’étalement urbain constitue en fin de compte un mode d’urbanisation dont la 

caricature nous est donnée par certaines villes de l’Amérique du Nord. Inspiré par le 

développement du mode de vie qui le sous-tend, fondé sur le recours au couple voiture/ 

maison et sur une idéologie anti-urbaine, il a trouvé sa pleine expression en Europe, 

et tout particulièrement en France, à partir des années soixante-dix, au moment où la 

dégradation du cœur des villes atteignait une intensité maximale et où l’amélioration 

du niveau de vie et l’indépendance économique de chaque élément du couple 

s’accompagnaient d’une émancipation culturelle plus grande de chaque membre de la 

famille. (...) Sortir et assumer ses choix conduisent à un éclatement des destinations et 

des temporalités qui s’avère peu compatible avec une localisation périurbaine en son état 

actuel de dissémination, sauf à multiplier la détention des véhicules personnels, tendance 

vers laquelle s’orientent les ménages les plus aisés 

Les effets négatifs pour l’ensemble de la société de ce processus positif pour les individus 

ont été, comme toujours, tardivement identifiés, à un moment où la part des transports 

dans le réchauffement de la planète est clairement et nettement établie. Mais d’autres 

conséquences, sociales, en découlent également, telles que la raréfaction de la ressource 

foncière pour la construction, notamment résidentielle, avec les tendances à la ségrégation 

socio-spatiale qu’elle entraîne. Le développement durable est devenu un impératif et 

désormais, tout en respectant la diversité de la ville, on s’efforce d’introduire dans ses 

quartiers les plus denses cette part de nature que les urbains sont allés chercher à la 

campagne, et dans les franges de dispersement résidentiel, une densité qui économise la 

ressource foncière et permette une plus grande efficacité des transports en commun.” 1 

1 Pinson, D., Thomann, S., & al. (February 2006) "La ville si près si loin. Du rêve pavillonaire à la 

réalité", Informations sociales 130:80-89. 

[73]


Car-Renouncement Experiment in Nantes 

“À la question : “peut-on se passer de voiture ? ” , il y a quatre personnes qui, à Nantes 

ville, ont fait l’expérience, pendant plusieurs mois de se priver de voiture. Elles ont rendu 

leurs clés et ont fait un test. Pour certaines, cela constituait une vraie rupture dans leurs 

habitudes. Au final, elles en ont toutes tiré un bilan positif. Il y a eu plusieurs articles et 

émissions consacrés à cette expérience. L’offre, dans le cas de la ville centre, de la ville de 

Nantes, permet de le faire. Mais dès que l’on s’éloigne du centre, ne serait-ce que si l’on 

va un peu plus loin dans l’agglomération nantaise, en deuxième ou troisième couronne, 

cela devient plus difficile. Et si l’on raisonne à l’échelle d’un vaste territoire comme la 

métropole Nantes Saint-Nazaire, c’est quasiment impossible, sauf si vous travaillez à 

côté de votre domicile et que vous pouvez aller au travail à pied. Donc, et c’est un vrai 

enjeu lié au modèle de développement que nous promouvons, l’atout que nous avons 

est un environnement et une qualité de vie de grande valeur, qu’il faut préserver sans 

faire la pause du développement. Il faut donc inventer un modèle de développement 

qui permette de conserver cette qualité de vie. J’ai parlé de l’étalement urbain, mais la 

question des déplacements et de la mobilité est vitale. S’il n’y a pas de mobilité, on ne 

peut pas vivre, on ne peut pas travailler. Il nous faut donc aller plus loin dans ce que l’on 

appelle le réseau express départemental. (…) 

Je pense que les 

déplacements pourraient 

faire l’objet du 

prochain thème, où 

nous confronterions 

à la fois nos travaux 

à nous, les élus, avec 

ceux des conseils 

de développement, 

de la société civile 

et des jurys ou 

ateliers citoyens, qui 

pourraient se saisir 

de ce thème. Parce 

que pour que cela 

fonctionne, il ne suffit 

pas d’investir. J’espère que nous n’allons pas baisser la garde dans les investissements 

publics en matière de transports publics : ce serait une erreur, maintenant ; même s’il y 

a des problèmes financiers partout, au niveau de l’État et dans nos collectivités, ce serait 

une erreur historique par rapport à l’avenir. On sait d’ailleurs qu’il n’est pas évident de 

changer d’habitudes : l’exemple des quatre Nantais qui n’utilisaient plus leur voiture en 

est la preuve. Il vaut donc la peine de réfléchir sur ses propres pratiques et d’expérimenter 

dans cette perspective d’éco-développement. 1 

Figure 15 Dedicated Bus Lane, Istanbul Turkey (Wikipedia, Embarq) 

1 La métropole: point de vue citoyen In Conférence métropolitaine Nantes Saint- Nazaire, 21 novembre 

2008. 

[74]

Rennes’ Example of a Dedicated Bus Lane 


“The study analyses the consequences of a settlement in the urban fringe on the mobility 

practices, starting from an investigation near households recently settled close to Rennes 

(Ille-et-Vilaine, France). This investigation confirms the strong mobility of this type 

of households and the car modal preponderance, whose causes are: less journey time, 

information and organization costs bound to the use of public transport to which is 

associated by the middle class a social statute loss. The assumption of a low anticipation 

of the new mobility constraints induced by the residential choice is confirmed. The 

households recognize their automobile dependence, without we observe a mobility 

rationalization except some circuits of multi-objects trips or some car-sharing behaviour 

for the leisure. To reduce car traffic, it thus appears more effective to act upstream by a 

land and real estate policy supporting a more compact town planning.” 

“Les travaux disponibles montrent aussi que le meilleur moyen de détourner de l’usage 

de l’automobile est d’agir sur les temps de parcours comparés, plus encore que sur le coût 

dont on a vu qu’il n’est guère pris en compte puisque ignoré ou notoirement sous-évalué: 

dès qu’il y a gain de temps, l’alternative à l’automobile est susceptible de fonctionner. 

(…)” 

“Mais pour les trajets non radiaux, les études de l’Institut d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme 

de la région Ile-de-France (IAURIF) montrent que l’offre de transport collectif en 

site propre en secteur périphérique de faible densité est trop coûteuse, même dans les 

banlieues des agglomérations multimillionnaires. ” 1 

1 Consequences of a counterurban residential choice on mobility: pracices and representations 

of the households (15.10.2004) Cybergeo: Revue européenne de géographie, n°287, GT23. 

Best Practice of Soft Modes in Netherlands and Belgium 

“(…) La comparaison des politiques menées aux Pays-Bas et en Belgique, pays à la 

géographie très similaire, montre que les politiques publiques ne sont pas nécessairement 

vaines : le laisser-faire des autorités belges en matière d’ouverture à l’urbanisation, 

de maîtrise de la mobilité et de politique de la ville contraste singulièrement avec le 

traditionnel volontarisme néerlandais où les politiques combinées de transport, de 

logement et d’urbanisme convergent pour mettre en œuvre une politique d’aménagement 

intégrée favorable à une réduction de la mobilité, l’objectif n’étant plus de maximiser 

la mobilité individuelle au prix d’équipements (surtout routiers) toujours plus lourds 

mais de renforcer l’accessibilité, celle-ci n’impliquant donc pas un accroissement des 

déplacements, au contraire (Cervero, 1999). 

Les modalités de mise en œuvre aux Pays-Bas sont multiples : politique foncière 

drastique autorisant la planification cohérente des programmes d’activités, de logements 

et de desserte ; stratégie de la déconcentration groupée combinée à la compacte stad 

permettant de concilier habitat individuel et proximité entre résidence, emploi et 

[75]


services de façon à réduire l’ampleur des déplacements ; définition de profils de mobilité 

et d’accessibilité différenciés par type d’emploi (dits “principes ABC”) orientant les 

localisations et l’organisation de la desserte de chaque type d’activités : administration, 

grandes surfaces, distribution de gros et logistique ; politique automobile dissuasive 

conjuguée à la promotion des modes de déplacement dits “verts” passant notamment 

par la réalisation d’unités de voisinage périurbaines conformes aux rayons d’action de 

ces derniers et fixées sur les gares. Ce volontarisme et cette cohérence comptent bien 

davantage que la soi-disante prédilection des Hollandais pour la bicyclette ou leur 

prétendue discipline : les études montrent que seule une politique d’aménagement 

global permet de contrecarrer la hausse structurelle et tendancielle de la part modale de 

la voiture, qui résulte des mêmes facteurs géographiques et sociologiques que partout 

ailleurs (Beljon, 2001). Au fond, les Pays-Bas mettent en œuvre “le tiers-modèle 

urbain” défini par Francis Beaucire (CERTU, 2000) comme la conjugaison d’un habitat 

pavillonnaire plus dense localisé dans un cadre multipolaire sur des pôles desservis par 

les transports publics. (…)” 1 

1 Baudelle G., Darris G. Ollivro J. & Pihan J., Consequences of a counterurban residential choice 

on mobility: practices and representations of the households (15.10.2004) Cybergeo: Revue 

européenne de géographie, n°287, GT23. 

The article by Bauselle, Darris, Ollivro and Pihan then mentions case studies in Belgium 

and Netherlands in this domain. Belgium represents the “laissez faire” policy concerning 

urban processes and mobility control. Dutch cities on the other hand actively reinforce 

accessibility. This attitude counts much more than the supposed “predisposition” of the 

Dutch for cycling. Studies demonstrate that only a global urban development policy 

can counter an increase in the use of individual motor vehicles. Thus geographical and 

sociological factors are not the cause of cycling habits in the Netherlands. 

[76]


7. How does one cope with the contradiction 

between the dispersed urban development and the 

desire for densification? 

Specialists support sustainable development but current dwelling and transportation 

models are not sustainable. From that perspective, what will planning professionals 

do? Does spatial development have to fulfil all of the wishes of individuals, no 

matter what effect it may have on the general quality of the urban environment? It is 

proposed in the following sections to examine both options, i.e. A) fulfilling desires in 

terms of habitat which do not fit in with the general territorial development pattern 

which is recommended by specialists, or B) dampening some of those aspirations 

and finding ways to convince the population of the compatibility of urbanisation 

density and quality of living. However, to begin an overview which will illustrate the 

complexity of the question at hand, some points mentioned below which were first 

proposed in a public forum on master-planned single-family communities. 

Selected Highlights from a Public Forum on Single-Detached 

Housing Areas 

What can be done to avoid urban sprawl while convincing citizens to stay or move 

into dense areas? This question was asked in a public forum 57 

organised by the University 

of Neuchâtel on the topic of detached housing areas. The following explanations 

were given by the stakeholders. 

Firstly, one stakeholder 58 mentioned that changing from car to public transportation 

is largely unappealing in Switzerland. The rationale is that the deduction of transportation 

costs between home and workplace are tax-deductible, even when public 

transportation is available. 

Furthermore, concerning information infrastructure costs (electricity, hydraulic, roads, 

and communication cables), part of the solution to slowing down urban sprawl could 

be by making people pay for the real costs of infrastructure. Even though between 

50 and 100 % of information infrastructure costs are currently paid by municipalities, 

dwelling location could be influenced with such a principle. 

57 Café scientifiques (14.10.2009) Plus de quartier pour les villas! Le bétonnage des campagnes vat-il 

bientôt passer de mode? Neuchâtel, Université de Neuchâtel (UNINE). 

58. Pierre-Alain Rumley, former director of ARE, Swiss Territorial Development Office 

[77]


Another possible action concerns financial balancing out to reduce the spill-over effect. 

Municipalities next to city centres do not share in the core city’s costs, whereas they 

benefit from their cultural, educational and other services. Well-known examples in Switzerland 

are the relationships between Appenzel and St-Gallen or Schwyz and Zurich. The 

political feasibility of any measure aimed at one changing this situation nevertheless 

appears to be without much hope, according to the stakeholders present at the forum. 

Another stakeholder 59 stressed that an important point to keep in mind when trying to 

attract people to the city centre is that there is already a housing shortage in city centres 

and population continues to rise more than what was predicted (mainly due to immigration). 

Thus we need to anticipate and create enough new housing facilities close to the 

city centres before asking people to move there. 

Another problem arises concerning real estate development. Small municipalities close 

to bigger cities rarely find investors interested in building apartment buildings, stated 

the former director of ARE (the Swiss Planning Association), now in charge of territorial 

development in a suburban municipality in Canton Neuchâtel. His explanation as to why 

investors only build PPE flats (ownership of a particular story of a building) has to do with 

Swiss law. In order to keep a certain amount of flats available for rent, there is a law which 

forbids selling flats originally built to be rented. However, the perverse effect of this law 

is that investors do not want to build flats for rent, because they know they will never 

be allowed to sell them later. The only players in Switzerland who are willing to build 

apartment buildings are pension funds. Yet, these funds are also looking for a minimum 

profitability rate (around 6%). Less attractive regions (4%) have no chance. 

Other financial tools available to reduce private car use, which deserve to be considered 

but were not mentioned in the discussion, are the implementation of a tax on real estate 

or land, relative to the distance to the next nearest city centre. 

59 Patrick Rérat, Geographer, University of Neuchâtel/ King's College London 

[78]


a) do IndIvIdual wIshes h a v e to b e fulfIlled despIte t h e Ir c o n t r a d Ic t Io n s 

w It h sustaInabIlIty p r I n c I p l e s, a n d to w h a t e x t e n t? 

Is it possible for the city to stop its spatial extension and keep its inhabitants? 

Does social justice imply territorial mixity? 

Is there a limit to density? Is there an optimum urban density? 

Swiss newspaper NZZ 60 published a series of 4 articles concerning detached houses in 

fall 2009. The series starts with a comment by a young architect, Stefan Kurath whose 

opinion is that building detached houses near centres is not a compromise but a strategy 

against urban sprawl. Kurath asserts that he shares the goals of the majority of 

architects i.e. densification and sustainability. He assumes that architects have no reason 

to reject the wishes of many Swiss people to live in a small house of their own, but that 

they have, on the other hand, the power to restrict the use of resources while drawing 

plans. Kurath claims that urban brownfields can be made denser with detached houses. 

While he is considered as a traitor by the architectural milieu, his ideas interest investors 

and politicians, at least until it comes to the realisation phase. However, a reaction article 

posted on the online version of Hochparterre magazine is presented with this first article, 

while the second article of the series is quoted in the next section (B) dealing with arguments 

in favour of densification. In his comment, Maurer asks Kurath how his little house 

strategy resolves the dilemma between urban sprawl and mobility. 

do e s a n o p t Im a l u r b a n densIt y e x I s t? 

Referring to an ecological approach, Ewa Berezowska-Azzag suggests in her study on a 

threshold to urban growth thinking about a possible optimal size for an urban organism. 

“Il devient alors intéressant de se pencher sur la question du seuil acceptable de croissance 

d’un organisme urbain et sur l’existence éventuelle d’une taille optimale, capable d’assurer 

un fonctionnement correct de l’écosystème urbain.” Until recently, this concept was only 

used as an economic and demographic tool but the emergence of sustainable concerns 

since the 1990s considerably changed this vision. 

60 Neue Zürcher Zeitung, biggest reference newspaper in German speaking part of Switzerland 

[?] 

[79]


Noise emissions, air pollution and waste are above the legal limits and capacities of public 

transportation and other infrastructures are at their physical limit. An urban threshold 

can also be understood as the limit above which access to the centre is not possible 

or profitable for people and goods. The author proposes a table distinguishing six thresholds 

concerning urban growth: physical, technical, structural, physiological, empirical. 

and economic. Each of them is more pertinent at particular scales and has its own characteristics. 

Good examples taking these aspects into consideration exist in Australia, 

Morocco, Algeria, Sweden, England and the United Stated of America, the author mentions. 

[80] 

wh a t a r e t h e s o c Ia l effec ts to t a k e In t o a c c o u n t w h e n p l a n n In g? 

If we chose the option of answering to all kind of demands from the population, including 

the one endangering the quality of urban environment, we should be conscious 

of taking certain risks on the social level. As Yves Bonard and Marianne Thomann highlight 

in their article, densification projects tend to improve the quality of surroundings, in 

such a way that living in the city becomes more attractive, and slows down the tendency 

to live in villa zones. As such developments of cities usually induce gentrification, public 

authorities today always try to keep, or bring back, social diversity in these new compact 

areas. 

Single-Detached Houses Are Innocent 

“(..) Wie anno 1955 bereits Max Frisch: gegen diesen “Pelz von Kleinhaus- Siedlungen”, 

der das Schweizer Mittelland überzieht. “Eine besorgniserregende Haltung”, findet Kurath. 

“Was hat sich seither verändert? Genau: nichts!” Allen Schmähungen im Elfenbeinturm 

zum Trotz: In der Realität ist das Einfamilienhaus begehrt. Abertausende wollen 

sich den Traum vom Eigenheim verwirklichen. Auf dreissig Prozent der Schweizer 

Siedlungsfläche stehen Einfamilienhäuser. Deshalb meint der 33-jährige Kurath: “Es 

reicht nicht, dagegen zu sein.” Sein Vorschlag: das Potenzial des “Hüsli” nutzen. Und er 

stellt klar: “Das ist kein Kompromiss. Das ist eine Strategie.” (...) 

Für Kurath ist klar: “Das Gottvater-Modell der Planung hat ausgedient.” Die grossen 

Würfe sind passé. Die Planung, Auch jene des Einfamilienhauses, ist vermintes Gelände 

mit unzähligen Interessenkonflikten: “Wir brauchen zukunftsfähige Handlungstheorien.” 

Deshalb plädiert Kurath für “Architektur- Judo”. Will heissen: die geballte Kraft der 

Landbesitzer, Gemeindepräsidenten, Planer, Banken und Käufer für die eigenen 

Anliegen nutzen. Dem Wunsch nach einem eigenen Haus hätten die Architekten 

offensichtlich nichts entgegenzusetzen. Aber: Sie können Auflagen aushandeln, die 

einen geringeren Ressourcenverbrauch garantieren: “Wieso nicht die Grundfläche der 

Häuser auf 40 Quadratmeter beschränken und dafür fünfstöckig bauen?” (...) 1 

1 Kurath, S. (07.09.2009) "Der Frevler: Stefan Kurath glaubt and die Unschuld des Einfamilienhauses", 

Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) 206: 9.


Reaction on Stefan Kurath’s Article 

“(...) Gut finde ich, dass Kurath dort ansetzt, wo man die Leute abholen kann, bei ihren 

Träumen. Dennoch überzeugt er mich nicht. Ich bin eben ein alter Hüsli-Gegner. Mir 

fehlt eine Antwort auf den Zusammenhang Hüsli – Zersiedelung – Mobilität. Solange 

in der Schweiz jedes Jahr 13 000 Hüsli an immer periphereren Lagen gebaut werden, 

nehmen die gefahrenen Autokilometer zu (“die müssen halt ein Solarmobil posten”). 

Oder die Frage nach zu klein oder zu gross. Das Hüsli wird gebaut oder erweitert, wenn 

die Kinder noch klein sind. Dann ist es gerade für ein paar Jahre richtig dimensioniert, 

und, kaum sind die Kücken draussen, für weitere Jahrzehnte zu gross (“sollen doch 

Untermieter suchen”). Verschwendung von Ressourcen nennen das die Ökonomen. 

(...)” 1 

1 Maurer, P. (07.09.2009) Der Frevler: Zum Start der Einfamilienhaus-Serie in der "NZZ", Kommentar, 

Hochparterre Schweiz, News in Architektur und Design. 

Urban Optimum Study 

“L’idée principale dans cette approche est de démarrer la planification, qualitative et 

quantitative, de croissance urbaine non à partir d’un nombre de population prévisionnelle 

à l’horizon donné avec les services et équipements rattachés, pour chercher une aire 

territoriale nécessaire à l’absorber, mais plutôt de fixer en amont le territoire disponible en 

fonction de différents seuils physiques et d’y varier à l’intérieur les densités conformément 

au nombre de population nécessaire pour supporter les services et aux états limites de 

capacités de charge du hinterland. C’est bien là le prix d’un nouvel urbanisme durable. 

Pour les villes existantes, c’est d’une refondation structurelle et formelle qu’il s’agit, pour 

celles à venir – d’un nouveau regard conceptuel.” 1 

1 Ewa Berezowska-Azzag, La notion de seuils de croissance urbaine comme enjeu stratégique 

du projet urbain , www.unil.ch 

Attempts to create social diversity, in order for the whole population to benefit from 

a quality environment came up against selective residential mobility logics. These 

logics tend towards a homogenous socio-demographic composition of areas. Bonard 

and Thomann suggest referring to the concept of environmental justice and to tend 

towards reducing territorial inequalities rather than focusing on means of generating 

social diversity. The authors put forth three ideas which can take into account principles 

of environmental justice: first, real estate monitoring; second, spatial repartition 

of equipment and functions, and third, tackling socio-spatial inequalities through the 

network concept. 

[81]


Figure 16 Classification of urban growth tresholds according to the nature and 

scale of appreciation, Berezowska-Azzag 

Another study on the question of social effects of urban processes deserves to be mentioned 

here, to highlight the disenchantment which often accompanies the move to a 

peri-urban house for a certain part of the population. Lionel Rougé wrote his thesis on 

the living conditions of modest households in the peripheral area of Toulouse France. 

Toulouse peripheral area is one of the most extended and least dense housing areas 

in France. Three quarters of its inhabitations are made up of detached houses, most of 

them owned by their inhabitants. This situation was encouraged in the 1970’s with financial 

help to access ownership. 

His main hypothesis is that these families went to live outside the city centre in order 

to control their distance from others as well as the social pressure. They did not expect 

to feel excluded from social life. Their localisation is strongly constrained by the land 

market. Very often, only one of the members of the couple- usually the man- is professionally 

active, while the other stopped working because of low employment opportunities 

near the new location, or due to the arrival of children. Such consequences weight 

on a household’s relational and financial balance, notably because they were usually 

unexpected. 

[82]


Territorial Justice versus Social Diversity 

“Urban renewal – in particular through the construction of “sustainable disctricts” tends 

to induce social polarisation, thus revealing a deep contradiction between the social 

and ecological dimensions of urban development. Social mixity is widely promoted as 

a solution for reducing segregation and the eviction of vulnerable populations by urban 

renewal projects. Yet a wide literature trend shows that many public policies aimed at 

social mixity did not reach their goal. Our intention here is to argue that in order to 

articulate the social and ecological dimensions of territorial development, we should 

rather think in terms of environmental justice than in terms of social mixity. This in turn 

entails changes both in the scale of analysis and in public action.” 1 

1 Bonard, Y. & M. Thomann (September 2009) "Requalification urbaine et justice environnementale: 

Quelle compatibilité? Débats autour de la métamorphose de Lausanne." VertigO - la 

revue éléctronique en sciences de l’environnement 9(2). 

Rougé reveals in his research that very often, additional mobility costs due to a great 

distance from the workplace and all services were not anticipated and become heavy 

in the familial budget. Through his interviews, Rougé notices how limited mobility, and 

through it, restrained activities and social contacts affect the unemployed, youngsters 

and women. 

Dwellings are sometimes so close to each other that an interviewee comments that living 

in his villa reveals to be the same as living in a block of flats “c’est pareil que si on 

habitait en HLM”. In order to keep a distance from neighbours considered too near, the 

households concentrate on their family life. Regrets concerning their location choice are 

not rare among the interviewees: “je regrette un peu parce que depuis je me bats, parce que 

c’est pas évident” (H, 42 ans, chômage), “si on avait su, je crois qu’on ne l’aurait pas achetée” 

(H, 47 ans, employé). Concerning gender roles, sex differentiation is stronger than 

in other households, women being relegated to being an ideal homemaker and men to 

bringing in the money, as Kaufmann, cited in Rougé’s work, asserts. 

[83]


Modest Households’ Unexpected Social Exclusion 

“ça dépend, des fois je m’occupe à faire à manger ou je regarde la télé, mais c’est vrai que des fois 

c’est prenant, c’est […] , c’est, c’est comme presque une prison, c’est vrai c’est, je sors pas parce que 

les voisins c’est pas ça et puis on peut rien faire ici sans voiture, et puis il n’y a rien pour ceux qui 

n’ont pas de voiture et puis la maison des fois, c’est juste là, parce que bon, tous les jours on voit 

des trucs et puis on se fait du souci, alors c’est vrai que, des fois, je tourne en rond, et puis la télé, 

voilà ! ”(F, 43 ans, sans profession) 

“Ainsi, dans un contexte d’accroissement généralisé des échanges et des mobilités, la 

manière dont les modes de vie des ménages “captifs du périurbain” s’organisent, interroge 

sur les limites du modèle “pavillonnaire périurbain.” 

“Ces ménages, autrefois habitants des grands ensembles, se trouvent quasiment confrontés 

au même processus de stigmatisation et de repli que celui dont souffre une partie des 

populations de ces “quartiers dont on parle” ( Jaillet et Péraldi, 1997). Tout comme elles, 

ils se sentent contraints d’y rester, et font l’expérience de nombreuses frustrations : à 

l’inverse des comportements de mobilité et des pratiques de l’espace caractéristiques des 

groupes sociaux appartenant aux “classes moyennes” qui peuplent l’espace périurbain, ils 

développent des pratiques d’urbanité restreintes, structurées autour de quelques lieux de 

recours élémentaires et principalement inscrites dans l’aire de l’environnement immédiat 

de la commune, voire du logement. 

Ce que mettent en valeur, en filigrane, les individus interrogés c’est moins la fuite de la 

ville qu’un désir de ville. Ils présentent bien les caractéristiques de ces “groupes captifs” , 

repliés sur les quartiers “de relégation” , décrits par les chercheurs travaillant sur certaines 

grandes cités HLM disqualifiées. Le décalage, est en tout cas grand, entre des aspirations 

proches de celles de la “classe moyenne” et les difficultés à les réaliser. Un décalage qui, s’il 

ne les inscrit pas dans une trajectoire descendante, leur donne néanmoins le sentiment 

d’être bloqués dans leur parcours de vie. Et l’on sait que ce sentiment, qui est aussi 

l’expérience de nombreux habitants des quartiers d’habitat social, peut exaspérer. 

On mesure bien ici les limites d’un modèle d’urbanité étayé par le déplacement automobile. 

Sans doute celles-ci ne concernent-elles qu’une minorité parmi les périurbains, mais à 

l’heure où d’aucuns font l’apologie d’un mode de vie qui est censé incarner la modernité, 

il nous est apparu nécessaire de souligner que certains en sont exclus et qu’il y a là comme 

une sorte de leurre, de promesse non tenue, dont le constat peut, peut-être, nourrir bien 

des formes de réactivité sociale ou politique (Gresillon 1998 ; Lévy 2003).” 1 

1 Inégale mobilité et urbanité par défaut des périurbains modestes toulousains. Entre contraintes, 

tactiques et captivité, EspacesTemps.net. http://www.espacestemps.net/document2237. 

html 

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b) If IndIvIduals’ wIshes s h o u l d n o t b e fulfIlled, h o w to c o n v In c e c It y 

dwellers o f t h e q u a l It y o f a denser lIvIng? 

[?] 

How can urban sprawl and its detrimental effects be avoided, while 

also convincing citizens to stay or move into dense areas? 

Does density exclude quality? 

Do cities have to be dense, intense, or both? 

Are towers a good solutions for building denser cities? 

The second article of the NZZ series on detached houses by Benedict Loderer -editor of 

the Swiss architecture magazine Hochparterre- strongly diverges with Kurath’s one in the 

introduction of the section A. Loderer asserts himself against detached house ownership. 

Notorious for raising polemics, the architectural critic assesses that owners of private 

family houses -which he accuses of being individualistic- should pay for the extra costs 

that their lifestyle induces : landscape damage, mobility costs and extra flows. He proposes 

two provocative solutions : either current empty space should remain empty, or 

every new construction should be compensated by the destruction of a previous one. 

Loderer denounces the non-implementation of the Swiss territorial development law. In 

his opinion, the only realistic solution is impoverishment, so that in 30 years, people will 

no longer be able to afford such lifestyles. 

Is densIt y c o m p a t Ib l e w It h q u a l It y? 

Fulfilling some of the populations' wishes in terms of residence would mean providing 

alternative communities which satisfy both their desires and the general goals of sustainability, 

in other terms, by creating a dense city. The following references offer some 

conceptual and actual proposals along these lines. 

As Thierry Channard 61 explains, the ”rurbanisation” process is the compression of rurality 

and urbanisation. Villages, which necessitated time to achieve their current morphology, 

are placed alongside new systematic villa areas, set up according to strict construction 

laws. Neighbourhood relationships are replaced by city anonymity, each plot well delimited 

by its thuja hedge. Market rules induce landscape privatisation. Commuters pro- 

61 http://urbanites.rsr.ch/thierrychanard/ 

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vide a rhythm to these settlements, and villages are empty and dead during the daytime. 

Channard proposes acting both on the rural and the urban side. Human gregariousness 

needs to be revived and innovative ways of combining individual lifestyles with multiple-family 

residential options need to be found. Pollution vastly decreased in agglomerations, 

and in fact city air may be fresher today than that of closed and badly ventilated 

flats on the periphery. 

The Opponent to the Single-Detached House 

“Das Einfamilienhaus überwuchert die Schweiz wie ein Krebsgeschwür. Es macht unfrei. 

Sein Garten versklavt unschuldige Kinder”. Schluss damit, meint der Architekturkritiker 

Benedikt Loderer. Aber: Er spricht gegen eine Wand. 

dau. Benedikt Loderer gefällt sich in der Rolle des intellektuellen Rabauken. Also 

wettert er: “Das Einfamilienhaus ist die Wohnform der Duckmäuser.” Und er schiebt nach: 

“Doch für sie gibt es ein richtiges Leben im falschen.” Loderers Intimfeind ist der “Hüsli”- 

Besitzer. Ihn piesackt er mit grosser Lust. (...) 

“Hausbesitzer haben Verlustangst: Nie machen sie Revolution.” (...) Das Einfamilienhaus 

sei die erfolgreichste Methode, um das Land zu zersiedeln. Und für Loderer selbst eine 

Lebensversicherung. Eine Million Franken statt wie damals 42 000 Franken ist das 

“Hüsli” wert, welches er und seine Schwestern geerbt haben. “Aber als Wohnform ist das 

Einfamilienhaus philosophisch nicht haltbar.” 

Also: Was tun? Der Demokrat Loderer sagt: “Ich habe längst resigniert. Man kann die 

Leute nicht umerziehen.” Wer heute noch an die Macht der Planung glaubt, sei ein 

Zyniker oder leide unter selektiver Wahrnehmung. Er fordere nur, dass die Hausbesitzer 

endlich die Folgekosten ihrer Häuser im Grünen berappen: die Landschaftsschäden, 

die Mobilitätskosten oder die Prozessflut, die ihr individualistisches Dasein auslöst. 

Sein Alter Ego hingegen träumt: von zehn Jahren jakobinischer Diktatur. Das würde 

genügen. Keine Reformen könnten rückgängig gemacht werden 

Dann hiesse es: “Das Baugebiet ist geschlossen und jetzt: verdichtet!” Gebaut werden 

darf nur dort, wo schon gebaut ist. Was heute frei ist, muss frei bleiben. “Oder noch 

schärfer: Für jeden Neubau muss ein Altbau weichen.” Verelendung als Lösung Loderers 

Verbalattacken provozieren. “Progressiv getarnte Demenz” unterstellen ihm seine Gegner. 

Der 64-Jährige keift zurück. Von alternativen “Hüsli”-Siedlungen (NZZ 7. 9. 09) hält 

er nichts: “Das ist Bekämpfung des Alkoholismus mit Schnaps.” Auch wenn man damit im 

Einzelfall etwas erreichen könnte, gehe es nur um “die Stellen hinter dem Komma”. 

Zudem wollen alle ein Häuschen wie der Nachbar. Keine Avantgarde. Nichts Modernes. 

“Die Anerkennung, die einem das Hüsli bringt, muss innerhalb des eigenen Clans erfolgen.” 

Quasi: von Prokurist zu Prokurist. 

Doch wäre die Zeit nicht reif für neue Lösungen? Muss man nicht endlich akzeptieren: 

Der “Hüsli”-Wunsch ist Realität. “Den schweizerischen Kompromiss haben wir bereits”, 

wischt Loderer solche Vorschläge vom Tisch. Er heisse Raumplanungsgesetz. “Eigentlich 

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haben wir unsere Hausaufgaben gemacht.” Schliesslich war früher die ganze Schweiz 

Baugebiet. Nur: Spuren hat dies in der Alpenrepublik kaum hinterlassen. “Wichtig wäre, 

das Raumplanungsgesetz auch durchzusetzen”. 

Aber nochmals: Was tun? Loderers Lösung heisst Verelendung. Lies: die zynische 

Hoffnung, dass wir uns in dreissig Jahren diesen aufwendigen Lebensstil nicht 

mehr leisten können. Wenn Bergtäler verganden, das Erdöl alle ist, dann werde das 

Einfamilienhaus beerdigt. Bis dahin schreibt und redet Benedikt Loderer weiter gegen 

das “Hüsli” an. “Wieso? Weil es wahr ist, was ich sage!” Und er übt die grosse Pose: “Die 

einen sterben auf dem Scheiterhaufen, die anderen im Bett.” 1 

1 Loderer, B. (21.09.2009) "Wohnform der Duckmaüser, Benedikt Loderer kämpft gegen das 

Einfamilienhaus", Neue Zürcher Zeitu (NZZ): 218. 

Rurbanisation 

“Côté campagne, nous devons repenser le mode d’habiter individuellement : l’être 

humain est depuis toujours grégaire, cette composante est inscrite dans nos gênes. Le 

“Moi” peut s’exprimer en côtoyant d’autres “Moi”, l’habitat individuel peut se conjuguer 

aux modes groupé ou semi collectif. Démontrer que l’on peut aussi bien voire mieux 

vivre ainsi influencera la culture de chacun, alimentera puis infléchira progressivement 

les demandes du marché immobilier. La conjoncture de crise planétaire dans laquelle 

nous entrons peut constituer à ce titre une opportunité d’évolution, voire de changement. 

L’hémorragie des urbains qui se sont mutés en rurbains doit donc s’arrêter, sinon nous 

allons continuer à urbaniser le paysage rural, avec son cortège d’incidences néfastes et de 

coûts sociétaux prohibitifs. 

Côté ville, que peut-on proposer de mieux? Le milieu urbain devient de plus en plus 

propre : les technologies automobiles ont permis de produire des véhicules beaucoup 

moins consommateurs de pétrole et moins producteurs de polluants divers. Les industries 

surveillent de beaucoup plus près leurs émissions et les normes Minergie demandent des 

bâtiments beaucoup mieux isolés et par là même beaucoup moins énergivores. Après 

avoir connu des pics inquiétants, les agglomérations urbaines voient donc leur niveau de 

pollution décroître plus vite que pronostiqué et le phénomène se poursuit. Les maladies 

respiratoires ne sont plus dues à l’air des villes mais plutôt au manque d’aération des 

logements. Autrement dit : si l’on veut respirer un air plus pur, il suffit de laisser entrer 

l’air de la ville devenu beaucoup plus respirable que l’air vicié d’un logement mal ventilé. 

Le bon air de la campagne ne sera plus un argument dans peu de temps…” 1 

1 "La rurbanisation : un coûteux désire de campagne", Thierry Channard, Les Urbanités. 

[87]


Back to the City PNR 54 Research: Swiss Cities Attractive Again 

While cities were losing inhabitants since 1970, they have been gaining more since 2000. 

This is the conclusion of the Swiss National Science Foundation (FNS) PNR 54 “Back 

to the City” report1 . New areas built in Neu Oerlikon and ZüriWest in the Zürich 

agglomeration as well as Winterthur which reached 1000 000 inhabitants in 2008 are 

good examples of this phenomenon, argue Patrick Rérat and Etienne Piguet, members 

of the research group. The decline that most Swiss cities have known in the last decades 

led to urban sprawl. At the same time, city centres encountered a housing shortage. This 

apparently contradictory phenomenon can be explained through slackening process, i.e. 

the size of households diminishes and the surface per person rises. 

City centres also encounter gentrification processes, with the arrival of middle and high 

social classes. The revival of interest for Swiss urban centres can be explained through 

international migrations, as well as an increased housing offer. But the point that the 

research also raises is that these new housings are rented or bought by former inhabitants 

of the same city. On the other hand, the phenomenon of seniors getting closer to the 

centre after their children have grown up turns out to be very rare. The attractiveness of 

the centre is explained by the comfort of accommodations, the practicality of living in 

the city, as well as the animation and diversity offered by urban life. Patrick Rérat also 

adds that these city dwellers are very mobile while they wish to live in the centre. 

As a conclusion, the two searchers assess that making the city denser is both desired by 

the population and feasible, but that these processes mostly concern an upper tier of the 

population and this makes housing prices in the centre unaffordable for others which is 

not ideal if we try to satisfy the requirements of sustainable development. 

1 Rérat, P., Piguet E.,& al. (08.01.2009) "L’attrait retrouvé des villes suisses", Le Temps: 14. 

Could higher densities lead to better urban quality? A new NRP 62 programme (65) the 

question of urban quality and in which architects are included as key players, is currently 

starting in Switzerland. It might be an opportunity for future research in this field. 

The synthesis of the thesis by Nicolas Bassand provides some leads to further the reflection 

on the conjugation of density and quality. The architect structures his problematic 

as follows : We are trying to bring inhabitants back into city centres by offering apartments 

with bigger surface areas and an urban architecture made up of numerous and 

differentiated spaces, protected from the proximity of neighbours and environmental 

disturbances. Perception of density plays a special role in dwelling location, for high density 

currently remains negatively perceived. 

Innovations, inspired by previous urban forms and old typologies can influence perceived 

density, and thus the appreciation of dwelling areas. Bassand distinguishes three important 

perceptions of architectural density : the density of depth, the density of empty 

spaces and the density of thickness (see schema). For example, in an apartment with 

62 Swiss National Science Foundation 

[88]


Figure 17 Insideview and apartment with courtyards, Ueli Zbinden, Schürliweg 

a density of depth, natural light can enter through building an inner courtyard or by 

raising the building’s height. Protected exterior courtyards 63 also strengthen the centre 

of the home and semi-public space relationships. Bassand concludes that with a well 

thought out architecture and urbanity, density does not exclude quality. 

Density Does Not Exclude Quality 

“Dans les années 1970, la culture urbaine n’était certainement pas aussi intense 

qu’aujourd’hui mais elle était fortement débattue au sein des écoles d’architecture et 

dans leurs laboratoires de recherche historique. Dans ce sens, on est en droit de récuser 

en partie la critique suivante: “…depuis le début des années 1970, personne n’a semblé 

capable de définir une forme d’espace convenable pour la repopulation et la résurrection de 

la ville… ”. Car, comme on l’a vu, il s’est développé dès cette période une approche 

particulière de l’urbain, qui a, entre autres, sensiblement imprégné le corpus des quatorze 

habitats collectifs dont on vient de faire l’analyse. En effet, la recherche de formes denses 

semble avoir induit, dans l’architecture de ces logements contemporains suisses, une 

série de dispositifs innovants s’apparentant essentiellement à la catégorie des rétroinnovations 

(réinterprétation de formes urbaines et de typologies anciennes dans la 

sphère domestique : antichambre, jardin suspendu, double hauteur, split-level, mais aussi 

reconsidération d’espaces à luminosité réduite comme dans la “chambre berlinoise”. 

- dans la sphère résidentielle : cour, courette, atrium, redan, rue intérieure, grand porche 

d’entrée, impasse urbaine. 

63 www.uelizbinden.ch 

[89]


- dans les matérialités : béton brut ou lasuré, brique flammée et abrasée, silico-calcaire 

et jaunie, crépis de façades ou couleurs de cadre de fenêtre revisitant une tradition 

régionale. 

On a pu constater que ces rétro-innovations produisent une architecture et des formes 

urbaines hybrides (des barres de logements formant une cour, des espaces entre la cour 

et le redan, des chambres berlinoises dans une barre d’habitation). De plus, il a été mis à 

jour que bon nombre de ces dispositifs novateurs sont à considérer comme des espaces 

intercalaires, qui servent non seulement à faciliter les transitions entre les différentes 

sphères de l’habitat, mais aussi à mettre en valeur une expression de la densité perçue: 

densité murale, de la profondeur et du vide. On a aussi relevé que cette expression 

architecturale de la densité est mise au profit de cinq valeurs à la fois distinctes et liées 

- une intensité de la perception cherchant à caractériser ces ensembles de logements 

- une urbanité intériorisée, valorisant l’expression et l’usage de la sphère résidentielle 

- une diversité d’espaces distincts dans les appartements comme dans leurs accès 

- une générosité spatiale de la sphère domestique 

- le maintien d’un vivre ensemble. 

Or, ces valeurs constituent sans aucun doute une alternative solide à la maison individuelle 

et contribuent à freiner l’étalement urbain. 

Ainsi, les quatorze exemples, compacts, denses et innovants, manifestent clairement 

une culture urbaine en constitution qui permet d’élargir la notion de densité vers une 

approche plus qualitative que quantitative. On soulignera encore que les innovations 

recensées contribuent elles-mêmes à faire évoluer la notion de densité. En définitive, il 

est désormais possible d’affirmer qu’à travers une conception soignée de l’architecture et 

de l’urbanité, la densité n’exclut pas la qualité.” 1 

1 Bassand, N. (2009) Densité et logement collectif: innovations architecturales et urbaines dans la 

Suisse contemporaine Thèse n° 4276. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Faculté 

Environnement Naturel, Architectural et Construit (ENAC), Laboratoire de théorie et d’histoire 

2. 

[90]

Figure 18 Nicolas Bassand (cf. Thesis 

reference) 


do e s p r ox I m I t y Im p l y c h a n g In g o u r 

lIfest yle? 

A further quote proposed for this specific 

reflection, is the proposal by Jean-Marc Offner 

to re-think the concept of proximity. 

Does proximity imply changing our lifestyle? 

Travel less, live on a limited space? 

Jean-Marc Offner calls attention to the trickiness 

of the word proximity. This concept 

actually existed before the sustainable development 

paradigm started to become 

successful. The underlying idea is that face-to-face, 

spatial and physical proximity 

is better, among other things, because it 

establishes a trust bond. Cafeterias and 

lifts (if they are long enough) are typical 

places where people might talk and reach 

more efficiency than if they were separated 

in space. Recently, the idea emerges 

that governance is better when it is near, 

whereas the contrary was claimed for a 

long time. Offner also pinpoints the negative 

side of the concept, when pushed too 

far towards localism, such as autarkic behaviours 

or gated communities. Localism 

is the opposite of what urbanity ought to 

be i.e. individuality and anonymity. 

Offner also deconstructs the cliché of the 

virtuous city dweller as opposed to the 

polluting commuter from the suburbs. The 

“barbecue” effect indeed highlights that 

inhabitants of peripheral spaces actually 

spend their spare time having barbecues 

in their garden, whereas inhabitants of the 

centres are flying overseas during their vacation. 

The work by Jean-Pierre Orfeuil enlarged 

statistical data to weekend periods, 

which enables him to show that inhabitants 

of the centre are actually travelling 

more often and further than their suburban 

neighbours. 

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The Extrovert Proximity Concept 

“Ariella Masboungi : Dans un débat sur le Grand Paris, Roland Castro exprimait son 

désaccord avec l’hymne à la proximité, mais faire de la proximité signifie-t-il changer les 

modes de vie, moins se déplacer, vivre sur un petit environnement très limité. Qu’entendon 

finalement par proximité ? 

Jean-Marc Offner : C’est là les pièges du vocabulaire. Il faudrait réinventer une certaine 

notion de proximité qui serait plutôt de l’ordre d’une proximité extravertie, qui serait 

le contraire du local. Dans les questions de gouvernance, on appelle cela du local 

métropolitain, c’est-à-dire du local qui n’est pas enfermé et qui sait dialoguer avec 

un système plus ambitieux. Il s’agit de bien décoder cette affaire de proximité, qui a 

beaucoup de succès avec la rhétorique du développement durable au sens le plus général 

du terme. Mais son succès est bien antérieur. 

Il y a tout un courant chez les économistes, qu’on 

appelle les économistes de la proximité, et qui explique 

– en partie à juste titre, en particulier quand on veut 

innover – qu’il vaut mieux se voir face à face. Se voir 

face à face, c’est la proximité physique et spatiale qui 

permet la coordination, la coopération et la confiance. 

Et la confiance en économie, comme on peut le 

remarquer aujourd’hui, est essentielle. Quand on voit 

les gens, quand on les revoit, il est possible qu’on ait 

davantage confiance. Ce courant est très lié aux affaires 

de clusters, par exemple, avec la question de savoir ce 

qu’on appelle le proche. Le proche est-il d’aller dans la 

même cafétéria ? La cafétéria étant le lieu emblématique 

de la création innovante, avec l’ascenseur dès lors que 

l’ascenseur met suffisamment de temps pour que les 

gens puissent discuter. Il y a bien volonté d’organiser 

la proximité par rapport à une efficacité économique 

supposée. 

Et puis la politique s’est emparée de cette notion. Une de nos dernières lois de réforme 

du système institutionnel est la loi dite de démocratie de proximité, contenant cette idée, 

très récente finalement, que l’on gouverne mieux si l’on est proche. On a longtemps pensé 

qu’on gouvernait mieux si on était loin, si on était au-dessus des intérêts, en particulier 

des intérêts locaux. Il y a aussi le commerce de proximité, les juges de proximité (vus 

comme réinvention du lien social), le succès des sites Internet de voisinage (les voisins se 

parlent par le truchement d’Internet avant de se voir), le local comme dernier rempart 

contre la tyrannie des flux (c’est ce qui se joue dans la défense des services publics de 

proximité, par exemple les postes : plus sûr que les services à distance via Internet, plus 

sûr que la venue du facteur… un bâtiment sur lequel est inscrit en lettres d’or le mot 

[92] 

Figure 19 On Up Two Down, 

Larskflem, flickr.com


“Poste” affirme la présence du local et assure l’accessibilité). 

Avant même que le développement durable ne s’empare de cette notion, nombre de 

convergences valorisent ou revalorisent le proche. Et puis le développement durable – 

légitimement au nom de l’économie des ressources, de l’espace, du sol et de l’énergie 

– nous dit : “Circuits courts, villes de courtes distances, villes à portée de main comme 

disent les Allemands” et donc nous engage à réinventer la proximité dans nos grands 

ensembles métropolitains. Essayons de créer, de recréer des zones de proximité. 

Mais il faut aller plus loin pour repérer les versants pervers de la notion de proximité. 

D’abord, la proximité qui dévie vers le localisme exacerbé : les communautés fermées, 

les identités hypertrophiées, le périmétrage ou l’urbanisme de secteur – un localisme 

qui devient donc antagoniste avec les caractéristiques essentielles de l’urbanité qui sont 

l’altérité et l’anonymat. 

Une autre subversion dommageable de la proximité est l’autarcie exacerbée. L’autarcie: 

un mot qui a fait florès à la première crise énergétique en 1974, suite à laquelle de 

nombreux projets de maisons autarciques ont surgi. L’autarcie se repère également dans 

des projets de recyclage des eaux de pluie ou des circuits courts de la logistique. (À 

propos des circuits courts, des controverses ont éclaté en Allemagne affirmant qu’un 

bon circuit long, avec beaucoup d’économie d’échelles, y compris en termes de bilan 

énergétique, est, dans certaines situations, préférable aux circuits courts.) 

La récupération de l’eau de pluie est un exemple très intéressant. Elle peut remettre en 

cause l’économie des systèmes d’eau et d’assainissement. Parce que, si tout le monde se 

met à récupérer son eau de pluie, ceux qui n’ont pas d’eau de pluie à récupérer vont payer 

pour les autres. Parce que, dans un système de distribution d’eau et d’assainissement, ce 

qui coûte cher ce sont les infrastructures. D’où l’idée que cette autarcie, cette économie 

des ressources, est présentée comme un gage de paix. Quand on regarde la littérature 

sur l’indépendance énergétique, on découvre que l’énergie renouvelable est locale et que 

si chacun possède son énergie, il n’embêtera pas le voisin ; et la paix sera assurée. Il est 

intéressant de constater que les modèles antagonistes, tels les grands réseaux nationaux 

ou internationaux au XIXe siècle, avaient un message totalement symétrique, à savoir : 

grâce aux grands réseaux et aux interdépendances, la paix universelle est garantie. S’il y 

a des interdépendances partout, on ne peut pas être tout seul dans son coin, on a besoin 

de l’autre. Ainsi le pacte républicain, en France, consistait en la solidarité par les grands 

réseaux techniques, que ce soit au niveau national ou au niveau local. 

Mon détour se termine. Qu’en est-il pour le Grand Paris ? 

D’abord je voudrais préciser qu’il y a une myopie possible du développement durable 

quand celui-ci ne regarde que les aspects locaux. Pour illustrer cette idée, je vais développer 

l’exemple préféré d’Yves Lion et de David Mangin : l’effet “barbecue”. Si on ne regarde 

que le local en matière de mobilité, on s’intéresse à la mobilité urbaine. (Soit dit en 

passant, on s’y intéresse parce qu’on ne dispose pas d’autres chiffres. On est formaté 

par les statistiques.) Et quand on regarde la mobilité urbaine, on constate, évidemment, 

que les habitants de la ville compacte et du Paris intra-muros sont plus vertueux que les 

[93]


habitants du périurbain, contraints de prendre leur voiture ou leur deux voitures pour le 

moindre déplacement. 

Mais si un chercheur, comme Jean-Pierre Orfeuil qui produit ses propres données, se 

dit : ces statistiques ne reposent que sur les jours de la semaine. Pourquoi ne pas tenir 

compte des week-ends, des jours de loisirs et des vacances ? Résultat : le Parisien devient 

beaucoup moins vertueux, car il part davantage en vacances, il part plus loin, il a plus 

souvent une résidence secondaire, il utilise plus de RTT à revenus égaux. L’habitant 

vertueux se transforme en abominable pollueur, ne serait-ce qu’en effectuant un allerretour 

Paris-New York qui, en matière de dépense énergétique, équivaut grosso modo à 

une année de voiture en Île-de-France. 

Il ne s’agit pas de généraliser et de dire que l’étalement urbain est vertueux… Pourquoi 

l’effet “barbecue” ? Parce que cet habitant du périurbain – que nous tous urbanistes avons 

tendance à critiquer – reste souvent chez lui et fait son barbecue dans son jardin, le weekend, 

les jours fériés et pendant une bonne partie des vacances. Cette anecdote révèle 

qu’il faut évaluer les choses à la bonne échelle, que cette échelle n’est pas forcément celle 

du local et qu’en matière de développement durable, les solutions ne sont pas toujours 

homothétiques au niveau local et au niveau global. 

Avec le groupe Descartes (équipe pilotée par Yves Lion, avec François Leclercq, David 

Mangin et bien d’autres, participant à la consultation sur l’avenir de l’agglomération 

parisienne), nous avons développé l’idée qu’en termes de fonctionnement et probablement 

en termes politiques aussi, il faut trouver un niveau intermédiaire entre le local et le 

métropolitain. Ce niveau intermédiaire, ce n’est pas les unités de voisinage à l’ancienne, 

ce n’est pas les villes nouvelles (avec un équilibre vertueux domicile-travail interne à 

l’unité), c’est du local métropolitain ou de la proximité extravertie, c’est-à-dire un système 

qui sait faire fonctionner un certain nombre de choses au niveau de la proximité, mais 

qui sait aussi que son avenir dépend du système métropolitain. Et de ce point de vue, 

l’articulation des échelles – ce que David Mangin appelle la continuité de l’espace 

public – est indispensable pour ancrer ce local, non pas dans son introversion, mais dans 

l’ensemble métropolitain qui a besoin de mobilité à grande échelle pour une partie des 

activités. ” 1 

1 Jean-Marc Offner, researcher, former director of "Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés" Laboratory 

(École nationale des ponts et chaussées). 

Offner concludes that this phenomenon must be evaluated at a pertinent scale, which 

sometimes seems to be an intermediary level between local and metropolitan. This is 

what he calls “extroverted proximity”, i.e. a system able to work at the local level, but nevertheless 

conscious that its future depends of the metropolitan system he belongs to. 

[94]

th e "dense c It y", u n d e r w h Ic h c o n d It Io n s? 


To conclude the theoretical part of this section, the four major conditions for density put 

forth by the ASPAN professional review are as follows: first, the specific context has to 

be taken into account, second, it has to be defined according to the quality of its public 

and green spaces which affect perception of density very much. Third, density must also 

be associated with functional, social and generational mixity. And fourth, density must 

combine with architectural quality. The question of visual representation of dense urban 

projects is also raised by the authors who care about generating a positive image of well 

made dense settlements among citizens. 

The Conditions to the Dense City, by ASPAN 

– La densité doit être déterminée en fonction des contextes spécifiques dans lesquels 

elle est appliquée. On peut donc postuler que l’attribution des densités dans le cadre 

d’un projet ne se fasse plus uniquement à partir des critères quantitatifs des différents 

règlements de zones mais aussi à partir d’autres critères comme la valeur patrimoniale, la 

morphologie construite et paysagère des lieux, les conditions d’accessibilité multimodales, 

les impacts environnementaux, etc. Considérée ainsi, la densité n’est plus une donnée de 

base mais plutôt la résultante du processus d’élaboration d’un projet. 

- La densité doit être déterminée en fonction de la qualité des espaces publics et des 

espaces verts auxquels elle est associée. C’est certainement l’une des conditions les plus 

importantes, car la perception de la densité, comme nous l’avons vu au préalable, semble 

particulièrement dépendante du vécu des espaces collectifs et de leur capacité à susciter 

sociabilité et convivialité. 

- La densité doit être associée à la mixité fonctionnelle, sociale et générationnelle. 

L’association de ces mixités – souvent considérée à la base de l’urbanité – peut en 

effet contribuer à renforcer les pratiques sociales différenciées et l’animation souhaitée 

des espaces publics. La diversité des commerces, des services, des équipements et des 

transports publics situés à proximité contribue aussi certainement à une perception 

positive de la densité. 

- Enfin, le rapport entre densité et qualité architecturale doit être considéré, notamment 

dans la recherche d’un bâti diversifié, en termes morphologiques et typologiques, de 

façon à prendre en compte à la fois l’hétérogénéité des contextes (urbains, périurbains, 

villageois entre autres) et les différentes pratiques sociales et familiales. 1 

1 Marchand, B. (July 2008) "llustrer la densité de la ville compacte," Les Cahiers de L’ASPAN-SO 

26(2): 12-13. 

[95]


[96] 

tw o s o l u t Io n p r o p o s a l s: t h e lo w r I s e - hIg h densIt y c o n c e p t a n d t h e 

c o n s t r u c t Io n o f t o w e r s 

After several theoretical approaches to the question of density, two proposals of solutions 

will now be exposed as sources of inspiration and an occasion to affine the debate. 

Firstly, student groups for Professor Luca Ortelli (EPFL Lausanne, LCC Laboratory) were 

instructed to each plan one plot of land adjoining another plot on a quite dense structured 

area. Secondly, two opposed positions expressed in the newspaper Le Temps concerning 

the construction of towers are given in substance to end this section. 

British Garden Cities or German Siedlungen were the first experiments in the direction of 

Low rise - High density. But the project breaks with the tradition by proposing individual 

projects for each plot, instead of repeating a given model. The specificity of this exercise 

is that inhabitants must feel like they are living in an individual house, despite the area 

being densely built. In order to remain feasible in the Swiss context, students were told 

to plan two storages houses. A crucial importance was given to outside spaces to give 

these rather small houses (compared to detached houses) a high quality. 

However, density alone does not ensure urbanity, Ortelli affirms. Therefore quantitative 

aspects are not the only factor to take into account. The architect suggests replacing the 

concept of urban density by that of urban intensity. This can valorise the alternation of 

public and private spaces. Reflections on public space and sustainability of the whole 

project were also part of the exercise but are not discussed here. Figure 20 Ortelli's students 

model on Low-rise - High density. 

Figure 20 Ortelli's students model on Low-rise - High density and situation plan

Arguments against towers 


Low rise - High density Model, by Prof. Ortelli’s Students 

“L’idée de départ – que nous considérons en tant qu’alternative réelle à l’étalement urbain 

affligeant nos villes – consiste en la réduction de la surface nécessaire à la construction 

d’une maison. La densification par rapport aux quartiers de villas que nous connaissons 

s’opère en proposant une construction en contiguïté, sans renoncer à la présence d’espaces 

en plein air, en forte relation avec les pièces de la maison - jardins, cours, patios, loggias, 

selon l’idée que “le dehors est toujours un dedans”. 

Afin d’éviter la platitude des extensions suburbaines, les maisons Low rise – High density 

s’organisent autour d’espaces publics de proximité, à la recherche du bon équilibre entre 

la dimension individuelle et collective ou, en termes d’architecture, entre répétition et 

différence. 

Dans ce contexte, tous les projets participent à la construction du quartier, considéré 

comme une véritable partie urbaine. Comme dans une ville, c’est la valeur collective du 

projet que nous tenons à souligner parce que, dans cette grande construction, le résultat 

final dépasse largement la simple addition des composantes individuelles.” 

Common sense brings to mind images of towers when talking about density. Contrary 

to this ready-made idea, Thierry Paquot 64 speaks out against high-rise dwellings in an 

article published in the Swiss newspaper Le Temps. His main argument is that high-rise 

buildings are correlated with urban sprawl, because the law requires to keep empty spaces 

around high constructions to ensure neighbours get sufficient light. Consequently, 

high-rise buildings do no allow such a dense city. 

Secondly, Paquot assesses that urban intensity, as Ortelli did in the previously mentioned 

text, is more important than urban density. By this, Paquot means that high-rises, 

shopping malls and motorways go against the city. Third, the philosopher observes that 

high dwelling are energy consuming. He even asserts that lifts cost more than cars and 

that towers should be made stone rather than glass to be environmentally friendly. For 

those reasons, Paquot sees a solution in NITC 65 . He finally concludes that we should think 

in terms of networks, and issues a plea to architects to invent new ecological and economical 

houses. 

Reproving urban sprawl can not be achieve without towers 

Lorette Coen, journalist at the newspaper Le Temps presents a different point view than 

Paquot, when raising the question 66 : How to reprove urban sprawl while refusing to make 

cities denser with towers? For a long time, towers have been banned in Switzerland. 

64 Thierry Paquot et "La folie des hauteurs " (10.06.2009), Le Temps. 

65 New technologies of Information and Communication 

66 Coen, L. (30.12.2008) "La verticalité débattue à ciel ouvert", Le Temps. 

[97]


But interest in them has risen recently. Since 2003, the highest building in Switzerland 

is the Messeturm in Basel at 105m. Zürich is building its Prime Tower with 36 storages, 

126 m high while in Basel Herzog & Meuron made a tower project for Roche that the 

firm abandoned for technical reasons (160m high). In the French-speaking part, Geneva 

for example is leading the huge project of la Praille Acacias Vernets which comprises 

nine towers between 75 and 175m high. In Lausanne as well there is an 80m project for 

the Beaulieu congress centre. Even though the debate on towers is not finished -if we 

consider financial and ecological issues-, something changed on the question of tower 

building, the debate is at least open, concludes the journalist. Very often, density is associated 

with large volumes, noise, olfactory and visual disturbances. Big estates do also 

evoke insecurity, monotony and anonymity. 

[98] 

Figure 23 View of Bourdonette project (Lausanne), 

Bruno Marchand DeLaMa

8. Why thinking about a “CitizenSpace”? 


[?] 

How can urban planning take advantage of Swiss participatory experience? 

How is it possible to take in consideration individual needs, 

perspectives and wishes in the planning process? 

Which role has the citizen to play in the urban fabric? 

How can urban planning switch from a factor-based to an actor-based approach? 

How can proximity democracy and participatory 

methods deal with paradoxes of democracy? 

Could participative methodology lead to make population co-owner 

of urban frameworks and co-maker of spatial solutions? 

How can spatial planning make a “citizen space”? 

Whichever attitude we chose from those proposed above, the needs, perspectives and 

wishes of individuals have to be taken into consideration in the planning processes. To 

that purpose, how can participative models be of help? 

In fact, we often oppose the state urban policy (or substantial) to the procedural one, 

i.e. with no political aim, while there is a third model: the participative one. Participation 

means that enforced actors are involved on the long term. Individuals and companies 

are taken into account. Putting oneself in the shoes of the citizens also implies questioning 

their power. Governance deserves to be discussed in detail, because individuals 

are increasingly taking part in political debate, including on urbanism issues. It seems 

necessary to define who, in Switzerland, can express themselves on territorial planning, 

under which conditions and with which impact. Several cases studies from which to seek 

inspiration are already available. A few choices among them are given in this final section 

as base for reflection (Nantes, Dortmund, Lyon, Netherlands). 

[99]


ETH Board Recommendation: 

Privileging an Actor-Based Approach 

“Hard issues at stake in the coming decades, such as the energy supply, demographic 

trends, mobility patterns, public funding and political structures are strongly related to 

the models of a desirable habitat that the stakeholders have now and are likely to have 

in the future. A renewed predictive approach should therefore investigate the dynamics 

of opinions and values just as thoroughly as it investigates statistics and should take 

seriously “weak signals” that can be identified in this area, which can very quickly turn 

into mainstream trends.” 1 

“Regional spatial development is not only an effect of public policies, whether these are 

connected with land use or otherwise. It takes place within a complex system in which 

numerous agents are involved. Each individual directly or indirectly has genuine power 

to shape his or her environment. Although each of the separate decisions made by each 

of the persons involved may only have weak direct effects, the cumulative impacts that 

result are considerable and therefore need to produce new land-use arrangements.” 2 

1 The Swiss Spatial Sciences Framework (S3F), An Academic Contribution to Sustainable Spatial Development, 

(version 28.04.2008), Basic Principles, methods and strategie, p.5 

2 Ibid, p. 4. 

As a reminder, the importance of including the populations’ view in spatial research and 

planning is widely understood and asserted, even amongst institutions. Indeed, for the 

present project, the Swiss ETH Board mentions the need to switch from factor-based to 

actor-based approach in its mandate to the S3F steering committee. Switzerland has valuable 

experience in participatory dynamics, and can also learn from what is happening 

elsewhere, as mentioned in the document. 

[100] 

Project blockage are often linked with their governance 

How advanced is the participative process in Switzerland? Professor Ola Söderström explains 

in a press article issue in Swiss newspaper Le Temps 67 that the city of Geneva does 

not understand how to include all the actors in its urban projects. He explains that it is 

not the quality or the pertinence of the projects which is at stake, but their direction: “A 

Genève, on n’a pas compris ce qu’est un projet négocié. On continue à agir contre les acteurs 

concernés, ou en les traitant trop peu.” “La première chose à faire dans le cadre d’un projet, 

c’est de cartographier tous les détenteurs d’enjeu pour travailler avec eux.” The example of 

Zurich proved that this way of doing things is sucessful. Söderström develops this remark 

with Patrick Rérat in an article 68 explaining that the cause of obstruction in projects is 

often linked with their governance. We need to succed in interesting several audiences, 

because a variety of actors are concerned, the researchers conclude. 

67 (12.10.2009), Le Temps. 

68 Rérat, P. & O. Söderström (July 2008) "De la litanie sur la "communication" et la "participation" à la 

conduite de projet", Les Cahiers de L’ASPAN-SO 26(2): 5-8.


Nantes’ example: gobal inclusion of stakeholders and workshops 

Located between two rivers, the urban project (plan guide) for the Ile de Nantes (France) 

was led by Alexandre Chemettoff’s team. The agglomeration (570 000 inhabitants) website 

69 boasts its participative methodology. According to this experience, every occasion 

must be taken to involve all concerned actors. Urban expeditions were for example organised 

to discuss the transformations under way in the city and an old industrial site has 

been converted into an exhibition hall dedicated to the urban dynamics of the Nantes 

agglomeration. 

Conclusions of a workshop led with citizens were communicated to representatives of 

Nantes public authorities as well as its citizens in a conference in November 2008. Several 

questions had been asked to the participants about their perception of Nantes-Saint- 

Nazaire metropolis. In parallel, an enquiry by IPSOS Institute was led on the same topic. 

The main results of the enquiry 70 were that very different citizen profiles co-exist in the 

metropolis. According to the interviewees, the metropolis benefits from a strong visibility 

and bears a strong motility. The enquiry revealed that the metropolis also enjoys 

precious assets like quality of life, cultural activities and public transport but also strong 

expectations regarding sustainable development, especially concerning the quality of 

life and real estate market. 

The citizen workshop focused on three main points: governance, eco-metropolis and 

everyday life. Members of the workshop expressed their need to identify with the metropolis. 

They suggested having a name for the metropolis and developing communication 

on the project. They also asked for clearer delimitations. Scholars answered this point as 

well as the wish of an (additional) administrative structure, by saying that even if there 

Ile de Nantes: Seizing Every Opportunity to Involve Stakeholders 

“The success of the Ile de Nantes project depends on its ability to be shared and appreciated 

by all. From the outset, the urban project was discussed and debated with input, 

suggestions and initiatives from residents, associations, designers and other economic 

and social stakeholders. Meetings were held with the members of the Neighbourhood 

Consultation Committee to explain the project, task forces were created, and officials 

organized urban walks in the field with professionals, site visits, exhibits in Nantes and 

elsewhere, and promoted active participation through cultural events. Every opportunity 

was seized to present, explain and discuss the project so everyone could get involved. ” 1 

1 La métropole : point de vue citoyen (21.11.2008) In Conférence métropolitaine Nantes Saint- 

Nazaire. 

69 www.nantesmetropole.fr 

70 La métropole : point de vue citoyen (21.11.2008) In Conférence métropolitaine Nantes Saint-Nazaire. 

[101]


Feed Back on Nantes Citizen Workshop 

“J’ai bien vu, dans les résultats des ateliers comme dans le sondage, le paradoxe dans 

l’attente des citoyens qui, à la fois, s’inquiètent pour l’emploi, et encore plus dans la 

dernière période, qui, donc, voudraient bien que l’on continue de créer des emplois, qui 

voudraient bien que l’on mette sur le marché des logements pour faire baisser les prix, 

mais qui, en même temps, disent : surtout, ne gâchez pas la nature. L’enjeu, le défi qui est 

devant nous, est à la fois de développer l’emploi, des logements et des zones d’activité en 

étant économes de l’espace. Et cela, c’est possible. Il n’y a pas que dans le logement que 

l’on doit faire des économies. Je songe aux zones d’activité. Par le passé, nous étions très 

demandeurs d’entreprises. 

J’avais, encore hier à Saint-Nazaire, une discussion avec un chef d’entreprise particulier 

qui, quand il s’est installé, nous a demandé trois fois plus de terrain que ce dont il avait 

besoin. Et aujourd’hui, il va les occuper. Mais il y a encore des entreprises qui sont très 

loin d’avoir occupé tout leur terrain. Je vois ici des responsables qui connaissent bien 

les concessions automobiles. Pourrons-nous nous permettre éternellement de mettre à 

disposition du marché de l’automobile des espaces aussi considérables ? Comment fontils 

en Asie pour vendre leurs voitures ? Ils ne font pas des parkings devant leur vitrine ! 

Il faut que les constructeurs, les architectes, les urbanistes, nous conseillent un peu plus. 

Autrefois, on pensait que les tours étaient des espaces très denses en habitat. Ce n’est 

pas vrai. Des calculs ont été faits dans à peu près toutes les cités que l’on est en train de 

rénover, où il y avait des tours de quinze étages avec du mal-vivre, et les densités sont 

inférieures à ce que l’on sait faire, de très grande qualité, aujourd’hui. ” 1 

1 Joël Batteux 

is a need for institutionalisation, it is not possible nor efficient to add more structures. 

The metropolis should adapt to the adequate scale according to project specificities. The 

mayor of Saint-Nazaire 71 makes a comparison with a friendship football game or a Sunday 

bowls competition. The important thing is the fact that we want to play together, to 

develop attractiveness and economic activities, allowing everyone to have a pleasant 

everyday life, employment, leisure and cultural spaces. 

One stakeholder among the public authorities representatives 72 in the Nantes Forum 

notices a common paradox among citizens, who on one hand would like new housing to 

be put on the market, in order to make the prices decrease, and on the other hand who 

say: “above all, do not spoil Nature”. It is actually possible, says the politician who calls out 

to car salesmen about the way to expose their products. In Asia for instance, there are 

no such huge exhibits. He also criticises the usual proposal to build tower, because they 

result in a low quality of life. 



[102]


On the question of territorial limits, one stakeholder evokes the moment when we would 

all feel too far away from the territory, so the question of delimitation would not even 

be raised. On the topic of communication, citizens mentioned the case of the German 

citizen Jury, for which citizens are selected in random lots to participate. The Dortmund 

citizens forum, called Bürgerforum-Phoenix, was founded in 2004 and has since then 

published two White Papers on the future of their city. The first volume enounces ten 

statements for a positive future for Dortmund city. 

Dortmund citizens propose that inhabitants could have the power to organize the realisation 

of urban projects in a hierarchy. Another proposal they make is to define a theme 

of the year around which citizens reflections would be centered. And the group wonders: 

“How to make the people curious about topics which until now were reserved to insider 

traders?”. They also express their attempts at hearing feedback on their propositions, as 

well the generalisation of this system, for instance on topics such as transportation or 

social services. Citizen reflection groups could be created. They should nevertheless not 

become professional teams, for example by setting a limit of only one contribution per 

person. Because the advantage of these groups is mainly the ability have a fresh perspective 

on topics sometimes handled for years by professional and politicians. 

German Citizen Jury1 “5. Die Leuchtturmprojekte des jetzigen SPD-Oberbürgermeisters sind – falls sie 

realisiert werden – ein Risiko für die Stadt. Sie müssen durch tragfähige Planungen 

ersetztwerden. 

6. Dortmund braucht einen Verkehrs-Masterplan, der die Stadt für die existierende 

Wirtschaft und neue Investoren zukunftssicher macht. 

7. Dortmund braucht ein professionelles Stadtmarketing, damit positive Standortmerkmale 

im Wettbewerb gegen andere Städte wirksam werden können.” 

1 http://www.buergerforum-phoenix.de 

Does the population have the right to make decisions concerning 

the realisation of urban projects? 

Public debt, unemployment, education, culture and migration are dealt with by the 

Jury. Concerning urbanism in particular, the group takes position against an architectural 

project (Leuchtturm), asks for more transportation planning and for city marketing. 

The affirmed doubt expressed against an architectural project leads to the debate of 

whether the population can decide on the realisation of urban projects, which means 

even decide their non-realisation, while practitioners have been often working on those 

projects for years. 

[103]


Switzerland has gone through 

several examples of this type, 

with the refusal of the congress 

Centre in Zürich (Rafael Moneo), 

of the Basel Casino (Zaha Hadid) 

and the enlargement of the exhibition 

centre (Herzog and Meuron) 

and of the Lausanne Art Museum 

for example. Why do Swiss 

people get inflamed by building 

projects? The journalist Lorette 

Coen73 answers, “Maybe because 

every endeavour to draw the Figure 21 Basel casino project, Zaha Hadid 

future with plans arouses suspicion.” 

[104] 

th e lyon e x a m p l e : n u m e r o u s c o m m u n Ic a t Io n t o o l s a m o n g w h Ic h a 

partIcIpatIon p l a n 

Among several participative tools (consultation meetings, citizen workshops, exhibitions, 

website 74 , video clips and interviews, project presentation pubications) used 

concerning its project “Lyon Confluence”, the Communauté urbaine de Lyon published in 

2003 a participation plan, which defines five principles : finality, efficiency, subsiadiarity, 

adapability and progressivity. 

As a Nantes representative did in the text mentioned previously, the president of the 

Communauté urbaine de Lyon 75 stresses in its introduction that democratic systems today 

are facing a paradox. On one hand, citizens display a lack of interest for politics. On 

the other hand, they demand more control on public action and want to participate in 

urban project constructions. How to conciliate both the power of public representatives 

and new forms of participation? In order to face this blocked situation for planners, the 

president of the Communauté urbaine de Lyon explains in the metropolis’ participation 

plan that the dialogue with its citizens has to be renewed, in particular through information, 

consultation, participation, and broad public debate phases. He asserts that we 

need to invent proximity democracy at all territorial scales. 

73 Lorette Coen (30.12.2009) "Démocratie en architecture", Le Temps. 

74 http://www.laconfluenceonendiscute.fr 

75 Gérard Collomb

Participation Plan of the Communauté Urbaine de Lyon: 

Five Axes of Lyon’s Plan 1 


Inform and listen to the population through exhibitions, inquiries, magazines, 

Internet pages2 , 

Improve transparency for public policies, organise consultation commissions, 

Innovate in forms of consultation on several project plans, 

Organise nine local conferences by city mayors of Greater Lyon, 

Spread this approach through the organisation of the 8th national conference of local 

democracy. Also, participate in many national and international meetings to inform 

about the plan and more generally about governance in a large metropolis. 

“Aujourd’hui, la démocratie urbaine est à réinventer à partir d’un dialogue renouvelé 

avec nos concitoyens. Pour ce faire, il est nécessaire de donner l’occasion à un nombre 

croissant d’individus, notamment ceux qui connaissent le plus de difficultés, de 

s’impliquer davantage pour peser sur leur cadre de vie. Il ne s’agit pas, bien sûr, de 

remettre en cause la légitimité du pouvoir de décision des élus, mais de l’accompagner 

de phases d’information, de concertation, de participation, et de larges débats publics. 

En d’autres termes, le rôle des élus et des institutions locales est de penser la ville et de 

la construire avec ses habitants. L’objectif est d’intervenir ensemble dans la construction 

du bien commun et de l’intérêt général. (...) 

Il nous reste à inventer une démocratie de proximité à toutes les échelles territoriales 

et à veiller à l’articulation des différents niveaux de solidarité territoriale de l’action 

publique. (…) 

La question démocratique est évidemment beaucoup plus large que les principes et les 

objectifs affirmés dans ce texte. Certes, il incombe aux élus et aux institutions de les 

mettre en œuvre. Mais aussi à chaque citoyen de s’en saisir et de s’impliquer, sans doute 

plus qu’aujourd’hui, dans la vie de la Cité afin d’intervenir dans la gestion collective 

de l’espace public. Ainsi, nous construirons ensemble une agglomération ouverte et 

solidaire, sachant valoriser la diversité de ses territoires et la pluralité de ses acteurs.” 3 

1 Charte de la participation, Bilan annuel 2003, Communauté urbaine du Grand Lyon. 

2 www.laconfluenceonendiscute.fr 

3 Charte de la participation (2003) Communauté urbaine du Grand Lyon, p. 3, Gérard Collomb 

Président de la Communauté urbaine de Lyon. 

[105]


[106] 

th e e x a m p l e o f t h e nether lands: c o-o w n e r a n d c o m a k e r to t h e process 

The Infrastructure Laboratory has been set up by the department of the Dutch Ministry 

of Transport, Public Work and Water Management. Its objective is to use the knowledge 

and experience of citizens and stakeholders “to get a better problem definition, to use their 

creativity to find satisfactory solutions and to develop plans that have a greater support in 

society”. Their approach presents the advantage to allay the fear that “novices” would 

take control of the city’s development, despite the advice from specialists. Therefore, 

InfraLab’s process defines very clearly to which extent participants have the opportunity 

to influence the projects. 

The participative process is made of three phases: first the voice of the customer in which 

infrastructure problems are collected, elaborated and prioritized, second the agora phase, 

in which experts, infrastructure users and residents come together in a workshop to 

try to find creative solutions and third the action phase through which the solutions are 

elaborated so that actions may be taken. Experiments showed that the InfraLab process 

encounters less resistance at this final stage than a conventional way of planning. Telephone 

surveys or written inquiries are executed after the first phase to prevent personal 

opinions from gaining more importance than necessary. Keeping the planning to a 

maximum duration of one year is also part of the rules of the game. Henk and Zuylen 

refer to the problems that are encountered in the traditional approach, and that are often 

large. 

According to them, there are three conditions so that a change in behaviour can occur. 

The authors conclude that a combination of skills is needed: human sciences must complement 

the expertise of civil engineers. They add that co-ownership of the problems 

as well as the certainty that the plan will be realised are important issues to create a 

positive attitude among citizens and stakeholders. 

InfraLab Example, Netherlands 

“The citizens fail to see the plan as a solution for a problem that concerns them. They 

consider every negative impact that the plan might have on their lives as a personal 

attack. On the other hand, the planners consider the objections made by the citizens as 

irrelevant. They often have the feeling that the citizens are unreasonable and are trying 

to frustrate the planning process. The problem has, first, its roots in the fact that the 

different parties have completely different perspectives on the plans and the problems 

with which the plan should cope. 

The approach of InfraLab tries to remove the incompatibility of views by making every 

participant in the planning process co-owner of the problem and comaker of the solution. 

These terms should not be taken too literally. The term comaker does not mean that a 

part of the planning process is placed in the hands of citizens. It means that the citizens/ 

residents/road users recognize the solution as an intellectual product to which they

have given important contributions. In the 

same way, the term co-owner means that 

the participating citizens recognize in the 

problem statement so much of the problems 

experienced by themselves that they expect 

that the solutions for the problems will also 

be satisfactory for their problems.” 

Three conditions for a change in behaviour 

to happen, by Henk and Zuylen 

The need for people to contribute to the 

planning process (motivation), 

The capability of people to make themselves 

clear, to discuss in the group (experienced capacity), 


Figure 22 Bikers heaven (Amsterdam), 

San Sharma flickr.com 

The opportunity for people to enter the planning process, talk to representatives of the 

authorities, and define the real problems (experienced opportunity). 

“Planning can be viewed as just a technical activity in which decision makers and experts 

do their work as well as possible. Taking into account the requirements and needs of 

all stakeholders. Another approach is to consider planning as a complex, multilayered 

process in which the product -the plan- grows in parallel with the mental image of the 

people involved. It is the job of civil engineering to develop plans for infrastructure that 

are technical feasible. It is the job of human engineering to develop the plans with such 

a content and in such a process that the mental image of the people involved is positive 

and the plans are socially feasible. The skills needed for civil engineering are, of course, 

completely different from the skills needed for human engineering. For an effective and 

efficient planning process, a combination of skills is needed, which is not trivial. (...) 

The survey (...) gives some basic rules for how to build the mental image of new 

infrastructure and some indications of the dynamics of the attitudes with respect to the 

plan. 

The process of participative planning should be carefully arranged. Special attention 

should be paid to a good match between the participative process and the “normal” 

planning process. Also, a match should be made between the character of the problem 

and the process and techniques used. The process used by InfraLab appears to be suited 

for situations with a relatively high social complexity and a relatively low technical 

complexity. For situations with a higher technical complexity, more emphasis needs to 

be given to the analysis of problems and the feasibility of the solutions. This requires a 

different process and other social techniques.” 1 

1 Henk J. Van Zuylen, Effectivity and Impact of Participative Planning, Transportation Research 

Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 

[107]


Statements and Questions on “Space as Seen by Individuals” from 

the SpaceWatch 2010 Workshop 

One of the central topics of focus at the SpaceWatch 2010 workshop was “Space as Seen 

by Individuals.” The aim of this debate was to reflect on people‘s way of thinking concerning 

urban and spatial phenomena. This means considering not only scientists, practitioners 

and politicians, but indeed the entire population of Switzerland. According to 

scientific language, we can, for instance, refer to people conceptually as “individuals,” or 

“ordinary citizens.” These expressions are considered as synonyms in the present report, 

as its goal is to point out the relevance of involving all actors in the reflection on space as 

opposed to defining a specific vocabulary. 

How can we understand the visible gap between theoretical directions to follow if we 

want a sustainable and high-quality living environment, and how space really develops 

in actuality? Because what is happening outside our front doors and along the railway 

lines or high-speed roads does not correspond to what spatial sciences and spatial policies 

are advising and proclaiming. We assume that one of the reasons for this gap is that 

spatial scientists and other related professionals are not – and will not be – controlling 

spatial development. This is why the only way towards conciliation between theory and 

practice in this field is to better understand people’s reasoning. 

The synthesis of the coming chapter is that the phenomenon of urban sprawl and its 

correlation with individual motorized traffic is considered to be one of the most urgent 

issues to be resolved, and therefore first understood through research. In this context 

of sprawl, involving a vast range of players, sharing knowledge appears to be a crucial 

issue, including refining the scientist’s role regarding urban models and governance issues, 

as well as contradictions observed in the current state of spatial policies. 

Statements on “Space as Seen by Individuals” 

1) Given the complexity of what is called “urban sprawl” development, it is necessary 

to examine specific case studies. 

Sprawl encompasses important ethical and aesthetic issues that cannot be eluded. We 

live in spaces shaped by a generalised urbanisation, with various concrete expressions, 

and we have to be aware of the real situations in order to overcome simplistic black-andwhite 

pictures or nostalgic visions of a still predominantly rural territory. Cities cannot 

be “controlled”, and traditional planning methodology might not be the efficient response 

anymore. Furthermore, a multi-layered background has to be taken into account. 

However, there can and should be a multi-actor strategic approach, based on in-depth 

foresight surveys, and on professional expertise as well as on ordinary citizens’ views. 

[108]


2) There is in general a lack of knowledge transfer between research on space and 

public intervention on space. 

Researchers should address pressing problems regarding spatial organisation more 

frequently and public administration should create research units in their departments 

more systematically. 

3) There is insufficient exchange of experience regarding spatial planning among 

Swiss cities, especially between German- and French-speaking Switzerland. 

As a consequence, spatial planning is not enriched enough by collective experience and 

proceeds at different speeds; some cities are using tools of the 21 st century while others 

are still working with those of the 1970s. Platforms of exchange should be developed. 

4) Sprawl has partially been the result of a democratic process and of the section of 

the population currently adopting the ideal of spatial privatisation (which underpins 

fragmented, low-density urban development) – this is probably still true for the majority 

of Europe. 

A departure from this era is technically possible, but only if citizens decide to do so. 

Any change in urban configuration has to cope with the fact that ordinary citizens have 

become powerful and competent spatial actors, able to handle (sometimes “subvert“) 

the existing spatial environment according to their own strategies. That is why urbanism 

not only addresses financial and socio-economic issues, but also a certain idea of 

a successful lifetime and lifestyle. It addresses a vision of a desirable city, a set of spatial 

values (especially concerning habitat and mobility), and moreover, a conception of the 

relationship between individuals and society, and between society and nature. All these 

elements have massive consequences on concrete layouts of urban space. A participatory 

debate on values and issues that are at work in the daily life of cities and regions is 

thus crucial for a possible evolution. 

5) The scientist’s role does not lie in announcing which model of spatial development 

is the best, but in making explicit, in dialogue with the actors, the consequences of 

their decisions and their agency. 

Social actors have to be considered as capable of reflexivity as scholars. That is why scientists 

should avoid any overhanging posture and take on the fact that traditional “socialengineering“- 

like zoning or physical planning - is losing its relevance. On the contrary, 

they should promote a co-construction by all the players of a common vision, including 

the possibility of managing societal issues that might long remain controversial. 

6) If we define contemporary urbanity as a material as well as immaterial arrangement 

of density, diversity, public space and public mobility, the choice for urbanity 

can be challenged by other lifestyles, but this may create a less efficient urban space 

in terms of economic productivity, social cohesion, and cultural creativity. 

[109]


Moreover, the right to the city and its particular services appears to be relatively consensual 

and gives social support to the promotion of urbanity as an attractive perspective. 

In another aspect, it is disputable that suburban or peri-urban areas would be the only 

family-friendly environments. There is an alternative, pro-urban family model, which makes 

good use of some advantages like the density of public transport facilities or daycare 

services. Finally, the quality of urbanity is part of the competitiveness of Swiss cities 

in Europe and in the World. 

7) Spatial sciences scholars can and should alert political actors about the fact that a 

clear governance component in all spatial allocation issues must be developed. 

Political fragmentation at the local and regional levels have had significant side effects 

on sprawl. The capacity of inventing relevant governance mechanisms at all levels, from 

small town to metropolis and megalopolis, is thus crucial. 

8) Regarding sprawl in Switzerland, we can currently observe contradictions between 

legal instruments and some public policies. 

There is also a competition between cantons and communes, and some divergence in 

concrete public action. In practice, the combination of ruralist ideologies, egal and political 

advantage to the landowners and the real-estate industry, and a certain misuse of 

direct democracy create situations where actors favourable to urbanity are often forced 

to a defensive struggle. The issue of land reserved for construction is of critical leverage 

for public agencies, which could be used, thanks to more balanced legal tools and deeper 

commitment of political authorities, in a more pro-active way. 

[110]

Questions on “Space as Seen by Individuals ” 

Dwelling Choices 


What makes peri-urban, suburban, or inner city living attractive or repulsive in today’s 

Switzerland? 

What is the scale of sprawl? At which scale can we observe sprawl and analyse its consequences? 

What are the diverse European situations, knowledge, and strategies about sprawl? 

What are Swiss specificities? 

Environmental Choices and Valuation 

What are the future challenges with regard to agriculture, forestry, land-use, and natural 

resources management? 

At what scale (eco-city, eco-neighbourhood, eco-building...?) can nature-friendly urban 

developments be designed? 

How does the public value the access to natural resources, as well as the preservation of 

non- accessible natural resources? 

Involvement in Decision-Making 

How can we organize research projects simultaneously about ordinary citizens and with 

ordinary citizens? 

Are individual desires and practices necessarily in opposition with common/public 

goods? What are the spatial challenges posed by demographic and lifestyle changes? 

What could be efficient strategic instruments to re-qualify public spaces and landscapes 

affected by urban sprawl? 

[111]


[114] 

1. “Imagine a city with no cars” 

[?] 

While vehicles are currently gaining in habitability as extension 

of living space, and while cities are losing comfort and security, 

what credible alternative to cars could be proposed? 

Can we dissociate accessibility to transportation from its property and 

imagine inserting individual vehicles in the public transportation system? 

What are the existing alternative modes? 

What possibilities does the multi-service model offer? 

“Cars have become some kind of extension of the living space” 76 and today’s cities are 

built upon the car system. The surface devoted to transportation constitutes 27% of 

the Swiss territory 77 . Cars are certainly one of the living conditions of fragmented cities 

78 which is today in opposition to the three pillars of sustainable development. 

This urban phenomenon is accentuated by the difficult management of car flows. It 

raises political, economic, social and environmental issues both locally and globally. 

Given the scale of these issues, it seems clear that the electric car, alone, will not be 

the solution. So, even if we can observe only a few trends to abandon the car, even if 

today some countries tend to quickly equip cars, can we still imagine a car-free city 

in the future? This second topic proposes to initiate a reflexion about the post-automobile 

city. 

Providing some elements of answer to these issues - imagine a city with no cars - implies 

determining whether social, political and technical trends can constitute a first 

step towards finding a solution. Is imagining a city with no cars still an utopia nowadays 

? The research of the CeMoRe (Centre for Mobility Research) of the University of 

Lancaster focuses on car issues. Despite the undisputed reign of the automobile in 

contemporary cities, John Urry dares to imagine another system - a new system - capable 

of ousting the car in order to enable a “low carbon alternative to the current high 

carbon mobility system” 79 . This system will have to be, in his opinion, at least as effec- 

76 Huguenin Marianne, Rennens City Council, Elever la ville, p. 29. 

77 Monitoring de l’espace urbain (2009) ARE, p.23. 

78 Lévy Jacques, (2009) “La mondialisation de l’urbain”. 

79 Dennis Kingsley & Urry John (2009) After the Car, Cambridge, Polity Press, 212p, p 63.

What if...? A Post-Car World 

tive as cars which meet the economic, aesthetic, emotional and social requirements. This 

analysis is illustrated by a diagram which isolates and articulates some technological and 

social factors around the issue of a “new post-car system”. 

The Hypothesis of a New Post-Car System 

“(…) Current thinking about automobility is characterized by linear thinking: can 

existing cars be given a technical fix to decrease fuel consumption or can existing public 

transport be improved a bit (see Urry, 2003, on non-linearity)? But the real challenge 

is how to move to a different pattern involving a more or less complete break with the 

current car system. The current car-system could not be disrupted by linear changes but 

only by a set of interdependent changes occurring in a certain order that might move, or 

tip, the system into a new path (see Gladwell, 2000; Sheller and Urry, 2000). 

I now examine whether a different pattern is indeed emerging, by looking at what 

may be the seeds of a new system of mobility for the rest of this century. These “seeds” 

involve not just the technical-economic transformations of different fuel systems and 

car body materials as argued by Hawken et al. (1999; Motavalli, 2000; US Department 

of Transportation, 1999). These seeds also involve an array of political, policy and social 

transformations, a veritable new urbanity. If they were to develop in optimal order within 

the next decade or so, then the break with current automobility might just be effected 

through their systemic interdependencies.(…) 1 ” 

1 John Urry, (2004) "The system of automobility", Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 21, No. 4-5, p 

25-39. 

Recognizing that the invention and distribution of clean cars has far less impact on the 

urban space than the establishment of new transport policies. Recognizing that future 

cars as “smart” and “connected” as possible remain a private transportation and a space 

consumer, we have chosen to focus on factors which, in Urry’s classification, concern 

social and organizational changes linked to the new post-car system. It appears that 

these change factors announced major transformations in practices, lifestyles, and by 

extension, in spaces in which these lifestyles take place. 

For each of these factors, we sought here and elsewhere, yesterday and today, projects, 

planned or carried out, practices, visions, scientific articles, pictures, utopias… Many 

clues, material to imagine what could be, tomorrow, a city liberated from the automobile 

as we’ve known it for over a century. 

[115]


Figure 26 Diagram of a new "vehicle system" 1 

1 Dennis Kingsley & John Urry (2009) After the Car, Cambridge, Polity Press, 212p., p. 65. 

[116]

2. De-privatizing vehicles 


[?] 

To what extent car-sharing can be established and 

expanded under the sole control of users? 

Under what conditions can it be replicated in other contexts? 

Car-sharing was born from private initiatives, what 

would happen to its management when its exploitation 

increases? Should a public guardianship be sought? 

Once made public, will car-sharing not move away from its 

original vocation, which has enabled it to expand? 

“(…) cars more generally are being de-privatized through car-sharing, car clubs and hire 

schemes. Six hundred plus cities across Europe have developed car-sharing schemes 

involving 50,000 people. (…)” 1 

1 John Urry (2004)"The system of automobility", Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 21, No. 4-5, 2004, 

p 25-39. 

There is today, especially in Switzerland, the emergence of new mobilities - new 

“altermobilities” 80 - that reuse or interpret traditional cars. The taxi is probably the 

eldest and most familiar. This section focuses on emerging trends and prospective 

projects. From the successful Carsharing initiative developed by Mobility, a series of 

projects was born which try to deprivatize cars meeting users’ requirements of flexibility 

and efficiency. In the principle of Carsharing, the car is shared by a group of 

users who, in fact, adapt their consumption to their real needs. Therefore the car is no 

longer used daily but for journeys that can’t be assumed by public transport or nonmotorized 

forms of transport (for reasons of time, areas served, freight ...). 

80 Vincent Stéphanie (2008) "Les "altermobilités" : analyse sociologique d’usages de déplacements 

alternatifs à la voiture individuelle. Des pratiques en émergence ?", Thèse Université Paris 5, René 

Descartes. p 17. 

[117]


The Success of Carsharing 

“ (…) En comparaison internationale, le succès rencontré par l’auto-partage en Suisse 

soulève évidemment des questions quant à la possibilité de transposer ce service dans 

d’autres pays. Dans les débats en France, on avance encore souvent que l’exemple 

suisse représente un cas particulier qui n’est pas transposable dans les villes françaises, 

notamment en raison de spécificités culturelles de la population suisse. Certes, nous 

évoquions déjà ci-dessus qu’en Suisse, le respect commun de la propriété d’autrui et le 

faible niveau de criminalité organisée ont sans doute joué un rôle décisif. Toutefois, ces 

spécificités permettent surtout de comprendre pourquoi la Suisse a représenté un terreau 

favorable à l’émergence d’un auto-partage basé sur des moyens des plus artisanaux. Dès 

lors qu’on met en œuvre un service professionnel, avec des véhicules dotés d’un contrôle 

électronique d’accès et en s’appuyant sur des procédures adéquates de surveillance des 

véhicules, l’importance de ces spécificités culturelles est nettement réduite. 

Figure 27 Cars of the MIT, stackable as caddies 

La forte pénétration du marché suisse s’explique aussi en partie par les politiques de 

stationnement relativement restrictives qui sont mises en œuvre dans les villes suisses 

ainsi que par la qualité de l’offre des transports publics (les CFF ainsi que le réseau 

de transport urbain de l’agglomération de Zurich sont souvent cités comme des 

modèles exemplaires au niveau international). Ces aspects sont importants, puisque les 

clients d’un service d’auto-partage bénéficient alors de bonnes solutions alternatives 

à l’automobile personnelle et qu’en recourant ponctuellement à l’usage de véhicules 

partagés, ils s’évitent bon nombre de problèmes de stationnement. Et c’est sans doute là 

que réside l’explication pourquoi Mobility est aujourd’hui en mesure d’offrir une desserte 

aussi fine du territoire suisse, en mettant des véhicules en location dans pratiquement 

[118]


toutes les communes de 10’000 habitants. Cependant, sur le plan purement quantitatif, 

si l’on prend en considération que la France compte une soixantaine de villes de plus 

de 100’000 habitants alors que la Suisse n’en compte que cinq, on peut légitimement 

se demander pourquoi un service qui s’adresse typiquement à des populations urbaines 

ne pourrait pas se développer notablement en France? D’ailleurs, les croissances 

remarquables enregistrées dans d’autres pays, comme Avancar à Barcelone ou encore 

ZipCar aux Etats-Unis (après neuf ans, cette société compte environ 200’000 clients 

dans une trentaine des plus grandes villes nord-américaines) démontrent que l’autopartage 

est un service qui est transposable avec succès dans des contextes culturels très 

divers. 

Depuis 2007, un nombre croissant d’acteurs économiques et politiques ont reconnu ce 

fait et l’auto-partage est entré en France dans une nouvelle phase de développement. 

L’auto-partage bénéficie désormais d’investissements capitalistiques importants, puisque 

plusieurs services gérés par des opérateurs de transport établis ont vu le jour, notamment 

à Lille et Paris. Les premiers résultats enregistrés par ces services sont encourageants, 

leur rythme de croissance étant supérieur à celui des démarches antérieures à caractère 

associatif. Cependant, les croissances demeurent modestes en comparaison des potentiels 

d’intéressés (par exemple, un récent sondage représentatif révèle que 40% des Parisiens 

se montrent intéressés par le principe de l’auto-partage !). 

A cet égard, il semble bien que les constats effectués par des études menées en Suisse 

sont eux aussi transposables au contexte français. Ces études ont mis en évidence 

que l’intérêt des gens pour l’auto-partage se concrétise souvent dans le cadre de 

phases de changement des habitudes de déplacement. Or, ces phases de changement 

correspondent généralement à des transitions dans le parcours de vie (déménagement, 

changement de travail, etc.), voire encore sont elles liées au processus d’obsolescence d’un 

véhicule du ménage, ce qui induit des délais temporels importants entre la déclaration 

d’intérêt et l’adhésion au service d’auto-partage. Pour éviter des déceptions politiques et 

économiques, il convient donc de ne pas surestimer le potentiel de croissance des services 

d’auto-partage et de s’engager dans une politique de développement orientée vers le 

moyen – long terme.” 1 

1 Michael Flamm (2008) "L’industrialisation de l’auto-partage en Suisse", Journal Flux, column 

"Histoire de courbe". 

The craze for this type of car-sharing shows a shift in contemporary societies from an 

economy of ownership to an economy of access 81 . Can this interest for cheaper and 

more environmentally-aware forms of transportation lead to a greater diversity and 

intensity in its supply? It could be, as suggested by the City Alternative Transportation 

System, by replacing a traditional car by a vehicle capable of being sometimes individual 

and sometimes collective. This project proposes an optimisation of road infrastructures 

in the city by reducing parking areas and encouraging transit vehicles. 

81 Dennis Kingsley & John Urry (2009) After the Car, Cambridge, Polity Press, 212p, p 97. 

[119]


Figure 28 Growth of Mobility’s clientele and fleet. CarSharing, Switzerland 

[120]

An Individual Vehicle Included in the Public Offer 


“The CATS project objective is the final development and experimentation of a new 

urban transport service based on a new generation vehicle. Its major innovation is the 

utilisation of a single type of vehicle for two different usages: individual use or collective 

transport. This new transport service is aimed at filling the gap between public mass 

transport and private individual vehicles. It is based on two operating principles: the self 

service concept where small and clean urban vehicles are offered on a short term rental 

basis, and the flexible shuttle service where a variable length of vehicles convoy, driven 

by a professional driver, operates at fixed hours along a line on a permanent basis or on 

a case by case basis. Both these principles are integrated in a single service (composed of 

vehicles and stations) called Cristal. 

The final aim of this new service is a more efficient mobility in cities through a more 

balanced use of small clean vehicles and mass transport. This inclusive new transport 

system is well adapted to the needs of people with reduced mobility, young passengers 

and tourists. Four Cristal vehicles and two stations will be made available by Lohr 

Industrie to the project for experiments. The CATS project will investigate through an 

in depth mobility needs analysis, on-site demonstration and showcases, the impact of 

the introduction of such a new system in three different European cities (Strasbourg 

FR, Ploeisti, RO, Formello, IT).The impact on environment and especially on CO2 emissions, as well as the acceptance and the evaluation of market take-up of the system 

will be studied. CATS will complement the design and manufacture of the Cristal 

vehicle via a detailed definition of its operating principles and by a design of its urban 

settings (stations, infrastructures,) in accordance with cities and citizens needs. A full 

evaluation plan is then foreseen as well as transferability assessment. ” 1 

Figure 29 Illustrations as one of the results of the project 

1 CATS (City Alternative Transport System) proposal for the Seventh Framework Programme Thème 

7 - Transport (including Aeronautics). 2009-2012. 

[121]


3. New transportation policies 

[122] 

[?] 

Today, is it still possible to replace a transportation policy 

that has shaped a determined urban framework by another 

one apparently incompatible with the former? 

Can we observe today in practices and behaviours the beginning of a change? 

Are the existing convincing practices necessarily the result 

of transportation policies initiated upstream or is it possible 

to begin such projects as bottom-up initiatives? 

Can the implementation of these transportation policies 

only be considered in some specific contexts? 

Could the long-term policies that urban projects require help gradual 

adaptation of the population to new proposed mobility? 

“(...) increasingly, “new realist” policies see the expansion of the road network as not 

neutral but as increasing car-based travel. The focus of policy moves to changing driver 

behaviour through demand-reduction strategies, although this is difficult without heavy 

coercion or marketized inducements (Kaufmann, 2000). The new realism involves 

many organizations developing alternative mobilities through computer-mediated 

intermodality, integrated public transport, better facilities for cyclists and pedestrians, 

advanced traffic management, better use of land-use planning, real-time information 

systems and a wider analysis of how transport impacts upon the environment (Vigar, 

2002). (…)” 1 

1 John Urry (2004) "The system of automobility", Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 21, No. 4-5, p 

25-39, 2004. 

Because the car damages the environment, because it is dangerous, because it reigns 

over public spaces... Should its desirable disappearance from the city arise from a 

sum of individual choices, or should it be the result of new and ambitious transport 

policies? Some cities are thinking of mobility, activating levers such as pedestrian


areas, and sometimes, public transportation efficiency, non-motorized forms of transport 

or individual vehicles inserted in public transportation supplies. Some other cities 

preferred a “predict and provide“ 82 model which aims to alleviate the congestion of cars 

network by extending it. Transportation issues have always been intimately linked to 

urban planning. 

The Car in the City, a Condemned Species 

“(…) Dans le canton de Genève, 24% des ménages n’ont pas de voiture, chiffre qui 

monte à 36% dans la commune-centre. On observe à Genève comme dans d’autres 

grandes villes européennes une baisse des taux de motorisation depuis les années 90. Sur 

l’ensemble du canton, en 2005 déjà, les mobilités non motorisées (40,8%) dépassaient les 

déplacements en automobile privée (39,1%). Si l’on croise mode de transport et zone, on 

constate que, avec 43% dans la commune-centre, la marche à pied est, statistiquement, 

la modale, c’est-à-dire le cas le plus représenté. C’est encore plus vrai si on pondère 

ce résultat avec la population concernée. Dans la commune de Genève, où se situe 

l’immense majorité des controverses, l’ensemble de ce qu’on peut appeler les métriques 

publiques de déplacement (marche et transports collectifs) représente près des deux tiers 

du total, 69% si on leur adjoint le vélo, contre 28% pour les véhicules privés. Cela n’est 

pas une idéologie ou un projet, c’est la réalité d’aujourd’hui, confortée par les tendances 

émergentes et les observations des autres villes du monde. 

Par ailleurs, il n’est pas possible de partager la voirie primaire entre les deux modes de 

manière équilibrée. La captation des rues et des places par les véhicules privés empêche 

en pratique les déplacements publics de se faire dans de bonnes conditions. C’est 

ainsi que le tram a disparu à Lausanne et a frôlé la mort de près à Genève. Dans les 

zones denses, il n’y a pas véritablement d’autre choix: la solution pour le déplacement 

confortable et rapide consiste en une affectation de l’ensemble de la voirie (sauf les 

exceptions habituelles: marchandises, transports d’urgence…) aux transports publics 

et aux mobilités non motorisées. Plus généralement, les urbanistes du monde entier 

convergent pour dire que, d’une manière adaptée à la configuration du peuplement et 

du bâti, il est partout possible et utile de fournir une offre de transport public. Cela peut 

aussi passer par l’individualisation du transport public (taxi, car-sharing, car-pooling, 

transport à la demande, etc.), ce qui est très différent du modèle, jusqu’ici dominant, 

de possession exclusive d’une automobile. Le partage de la voirie n’est en outre pas 

symétrique: une voiture occupe une surface considérablement plus grande qu’un ou 

deux piétons, elle émet des pollutions diverses. Enfin, les automobiles sont violentes: 

elles tuent dans le monde 1,2 million de personnes et en blessent 50 millions chaque 

année, un bilan comparable aux pires épidémies. Autrement dit, elle est structurellement 

incompatible avec les trois piliers du développement durable, et pas seulement celui de 

la protection environnementale, ce qui signifie qu’une voiture propre ne serait pas pour 

autant une voiture verte. 


[123]


Dès lors, on ne peut pas défendre l’idée que le choix modal serait une option technique 

neutre qui resterait à la discrétion des usagers. C’est d’autant moins vrai que l’expérience 

historique d’un siècle de pratiques de mobilité est claire et permet à chacun d’en tirer les 

leçons. Les citoyens de Los Angeles, qui avaient, dans les années 1930 et 1940, pris la 

décision radicale de démanteler l’ensemble des transports publics de l’agglomération, ont 

opté depuis dix ans pour un réseau ambitieux de métro, de trams et de bus, en l’associant 

à la reconquête du centre-ville. 

C’est un mouvement qui touche toutes les grandes villes d’Amérique du Nord et qui 

s’articule sur quatre mots-clés: transports publics, espaces publics, densité, diversité. 

Réclamer pour l’automobile privée la libre disposition de la voirie dans les zones 

urbanisées ne relève donc ni de la démocratie ni du pluralisme, mais simplement d’un 

lobbyisme particulier, dirigé à la fois contre la majorité et contre l’efficacité. 

Certes, les compromis restent possibles. Par exemple, par un partage de l’espace urbain: 

les transports publics dans la zone dense, le véhicule privé ailleurs. C’est effectivement 

ce qui se passe dans la plupart des villes européennes. Progressivement, cependant, cela 

a pour effet de décourager l’usage de l’automobile en lui retirant l’avantage du porteà-porte, 

à condition bien sûr que l’offre de transports publics suive une demande 

croissante. On peut imaginer une dynamique incitative (étoffer les réseaux, augmenter 

les fréquences) ou plus directive (par les restrictions à la circulation ou au stationnement 

et le péage urbain). Mais il n’est pas honnête de dire que tout se vaut. Il y a bien un 

conflit fondamental, pour l’essentiel tranché parmi les experts, mais en plein débat dans 

le public. La position partagée par la plupart des professionnels et des politiques consiste 

en effet à insister sur la relation forte entre mobilité et urbanité: à chaque mode, son 

style de ville. Or la ville réussit mieux en se centrant sur son “métier”, fait de densité et 

diversité, tandis que la péri-urbanisation fragmente et sépare, affaiblissant les avantages 

de la concentration. Dans un espace à forte urbanité, les transports publics sont non 

seulement les plus justes et les plus écologiques, mais ils sont aussi les plus rapides. Ce 

n’est que dans une ville faite pour l’automobile que l’automobile l’emporte en vitesse, mais 

cela se fait au prix de lourdes externalités négatives. Cela signifie aussi qu’en contrepartie 

d’une restriction de l’offre de voirie pour les véhicules privés il faut que se mette en place 

une augmentation symétrique de l’offre de transports publics, mais aussi une mise en 

cohérence de l’ensemble des choix d’urbanisme. C’est vrai pour la zone dense, mais aussi 

progressivement pour tout l’espace urbanisé où l’augmentation du niveau d’urbanité peut 

commencer, modestement, dès aujourd’hui. 

Inévitablement, que l’on prenne le problème par les transports, l’habitat, l’environnement 

ou l’efficacité économique, on aboutira au constat que le véhicule privé ne peut être que 

résiduel dans une ville en développement cohérent et durable. (…)” 1 

1 Lévy Jacques (9.10.2009)"La voiture en ville, une espèce condamnée", Le Temps, column: l’avis 

de l’expert. 

[124]


In the second half of the twentieth century, some urban projects, which were mostly 

received as utopias by their contemporaries, questioned the reign of the car by offering 

rapid-transit devices. Today, many cities are drastically reducing their car traffic. Some of 

these innovative cities demonstrate the feasibility of a replacement, partial or total, of 

the automobile by other types of transport (ex: Curitiba, Brazil 83 ). 

A Coherent and Anchored Transport Policy: The City of Bern 

“Nous l'avions laissée rayonnante sous sa verrière flambant neuve en juin 2008. Depuis, 

la place de la Gare réaménagée a su conquérir le cœur des Bernois, pour lesquels les mois 

de travaux ne sont déjà plus qu'un lointain souvenir. Le lieu avait en effet été interdit 

aux véhicules motorisés individuels pendant un an, et aux transports publics pendant six 

mois. La gauche en avait profité pour lancer une initiative interdisant au trafic privé de 

transiter par la place. 

L'issue de la votation de dimanche s'annonce incertaine. Le débat, lui, a été passionné. 

(…) 

Le débat est intéressant plus d'un titre. D'abord, il rappelle que les gares sont des lieux 

de plus en plus importants en termes de flux, pour reprendre les termes du sociologue 

Vincent Kaufmann, professeur de sociologie urbaine à l'EPFL. Avec ses 150 000 

passagers quotidiens, celle de Berne, la plus importante du réseau ferroviaire suisse 

derrière Zurich, n'échappe pas la règle. Ensuite, il est révélateur d'une mode actuelle 

pour la mobilité douce qui, dans le cas particulier de Berne, puise ses racines dans une 

politique cohérente. 

Car, dans la capitale, la voiture a largement perdu du terrain depuis des années. Difficile 

d'imaginer qu'au début des années 2000, la place Fédérale était encore un parking. Que 

dans les années 60, l'église du Saint-Esprit était tout entière bloquée par des voitures et 

que les piétons devaient emprunter des souterrains pour leur sécurité. Le déclic contre 

l'euphorie automobile a eu lieu dans les années 70, rappelle Hanja Maksim, chercheuse 

en mobilité urbaine à l'EPFL, qui a notamment travaillé sur la capitale. A cette époque, 

la population vote pour fermer la Waisenhausplatz et la Bärenplatz au trafic automobile. 

Par ailleurs, contrairement Genève par exemple, la ville ne démantèle pas ses principales 

lignes de tramway, et renforce son réseau de transports publics. Bref, l'initiative pour 

une place de la Gare sans voitures est dans la droite ligne d'une politique d'urbanisme 

cohérente menée depuis des années, résume Vincent Kaufmann. 

Une forme de révolution tranquille, en somme. Les communes de l'agglomération sont 

extrêmement bien desservies sur le plan ferroviaire, et les modes de vie ont suivi, se 

développant autour d'autre chose que la voiture. A Berne, la sensibilité environnementale 

et le souci de proximité se sont alliés à tel point que plus d'un ménage sur deux n'a pas 

83 "Taniguchi Cassio, One of the best and most sustainable transit systems in the world today flourishes 

in Curitiba.(…) a world-class all-bus transit network" (April 2001 ) "Transport and Urban Planning 

in Curitiba", DISP The Planning Review, n°147, NSL, ETH, Zurich, p14-19. 

[125]


de voitures. C'est quand même phénoménal! relève Vincent Kaufmann. Le sociologue 

estime d'ailleurs qu'un rejet de l'initiative ne signifierait pas un rejet du projet sur le long 

terme. C'est le génie bernois de toujours faire primer les projets sur les clivages, sourit-il. 

Un signe? Cet été, le législatif a d'ores et déjà accepté un crédit de planification de 900 

000 francs pour étudier les différents scénarios possibles en cas de oui. 

Une seconde votation aurait dès lors lieu. Mais si à Berne, comme ailleurs Copenhague 

ou Fribourg-en-Brisgau, les rêves d'écologistes se réalisent – presque -, ils restent peu 

transférables ailleurs, prévient Vincent Kaufmann. Justement parce que les conditions 

locales ne le permettent pas. On ne peut pas plaquer le schéma bernois sur une autre 

ville. A Genève ou Lausanne, ce serait impensable.” 1 

1 Bourget Albertine (22.09.2009) "Place de la Gare Berne, la voiture est menacée; Le vif débat 

autour de la votation de dimanche prochain sur une place de la Gare sans trafic privé illustre le 

cas particulier de la capitale en matière de mobilité.", Le Temps. 

Figure 30 The "Experimental Protoype Community of Tomorrow" (EPCOT) 

developed by Walt Disney, 1959 

Trends in the city of Berne can not be generalized to the whole of Switzerland but it is 

also at this scale that a transportation system should be organized. Indeed, just like in 

the city, transportation allows and illustrates the organisation of a country. Therefore, 

what could be the relevant governance(s) scale(s) to complete these new transport 

policies successfully? 

[126]

When America Chooses Rail 


“(…) A la mi-octobre, la Commission des transports et des infrastructures de la Chambre 

des représentants tenait des auditions sur les trains à grande vitesse aux Etats-Unis. Une 

thématique ancienne, mais qui bénéficie d’un soudain regain d’intérêt. Ce printemps, 

le président Barack Obama a débloqué 8 milliards de dollars dans le cadre du plan de 

relance pour développer les TGV. Dix lignes ferroviaires ont été identifiées dans des 

zones à forte densité de population le long des côtes est et ouest. La commission déplore 

l’énorme retard pris par les Américains dans le développement de TGV par rapport à 

des pays comme le Japon (réseau de 2200 kilomètres) ou la France (1900 kilomètres). 

La commission mentionne la Chine, qui, d’ici à 2020, planifie un réseau TVG de 26 000 

kilomètres pour un investissement de 300 milliards de dollars. 

Les responsables américains des transports pensent qu’un vaste réseau TGV peut produire 

les mêmes effets positifs sur la croissance économique que le Interstate Highway System, 

un gigantesque projet de construction d’autoroutes lancé par le président Dwight 

Eisenhower à partir de 1956. Le Département américain des transports estime que d’ici 

à 2035, la plupart des autoroutes reliant les grandes villes américaines seront totalement 

engorgées. En 2007, les coûts des engorgements de trafic dans les zones urbaines ont été 

évalués à 87 milliards de dollars. 

Le transport de passagers a été longtemps négligé. Entre 1971 (date de la création 

d’Amtrak, la compagnie ferroviaire publique nationale) et 2008, les investissements 

dans ce secteur se sont élevés à seulement 58 milliards de dollars. Après avoir connu 

un pic durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le transport ferroviaire de passagers a été 

marginalisé dans les années 1950 et 1960 pour atteindre son plus bas niveau en 1972. 

Aux Etats-Unis, les autres secteurs des transports ont été mieux lotis. Entre 1958 et 

2008, près de 1300 milliards ont été injectés dans la construction d’autoroutes et plus de 

473 milliards dans le secteur aérien(…)” 1 

1 Bussard Stéphane (10.10.2009) "Quand l’Amérique choisit le rail.", Le Temps. 

[127]


4.New living, work, leisure, practices 

[128] 

[?] 

If we can easily understand the relevance of the post-car model 

for a new town built from scratch, what about its application in 

the case of cities already structured by a fragmented model? 

Can these new lifestyles emerge in fragmented 

cities and under which conditions? 

Is the addiction to the car specifically linked to 

certain contexts and certain generations? 

Is it possible to see this attachment transferred onto other 

vehicles, other technologies and other types of mobility? 

“(…)People should live in denser, much more integrated urban areas that maximize each 

other’s co-presence. This would effect “coerce” people into meeting up with people who 

live nearby. Access would be improved but physical movement would be reduced.(…) a 

Stockholm Environnement Institute Report recommends urbanscapes that encourage 

closer proximity between places of home, work, shops and leisure activities. This would 

reduce car dependence while strengthening community. (…)” 1 


These new transport policies go together with the two major models of urbanity: “compact 

city” and “fragmented urbanity”. “Ce sont dans les mêmes villes que l’on trouve associées 

ou que l’on ne trouve pas du tout : densité, diversité fonctionnelle et sociologique, transports 

publics et espace public, orientation vers le projet collectif et le gouvernement commun 

de l’urbain. La conscience écologique a fait apparaître un nouveau trait majeur: sans avoir 

longtemps eu la moindre préoccupation en ce sens, les “villes rassemblées“ respectent beaucoup 

mieux l’air, l’eau et le sol que les espaces urbains fragmentées. Il y a là une logique de 

l’économie de moyens, qui se trouve, au fond, à la base de l’option urbaine et qui prouve 

aisément sa modernité technique et sa valeur éthique dans chacun des trois piliers (“économique“, 

“social“ et “environnemental“) du paradigme du Développement durable. “ 84 In this 

framework, a new kind of projects, new towns, are developed, applying these ideas of 

84 Lévy Jacques (2009) “La mondialisation de l’urbain”.


density and diversity. They significantly reduce daily journeys. The area of the city being 

reduced, the activities being mixed, public transport and non-motorized forms of transport 

can therefore take over all journeys of people, giving the car a marginal role (deliveries, 

emergencies...). The city, in its design, allows the emergence of new lifestyles and 

mobilities in relation to these emerging lifestyles. 

Living and Working in Dongtan 

“(…)The Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) commissioned Arup to 

design the world’s first sustainable city which is to be situated close to Shanghai on 

China’s third largest island situated in the mouth of the Yangtze River. Arup have used 

a system of integrated masterplanning in the design of Dongtan to develop a dynamic, 

liveable and eco-friendly city that has the lowest achievable ecological footprint and is 

as close to being carbon neutral as possible within economic constraints. 

The city of Dongtan is estimated to be 86km2 in size and to house half a million 

people by 2040. It will be a place where people can both live and work in a high quality 

environment. The designs are based on the principal that all of its citizens can be in close 

contact with green open spaces, lakes and canals. The population of Dongtan will live 

in three compact districts separated by green land such as parks and lakes and leisure 

facilities. The development will be low rise consisting of 6-8 storey blocks which will 

avoid the “heat island” effect which is felt in neighbouring Shanghai where night time 

temperatures can be elevated by 6C. The buildings will be highly energy efficient and the 

city will be largely powered by renewable energy. 

Due to Arup being responsible for masterplanning the entire built environment from 

urban design, energy management and renewable implementation, waste management, 

economic and business planning, sustainable building design, infrastructure and 

community and social structures, it was possible for a holistic and integrated approach 

to be taken in achieving the goal of reducing the overall environmental impact of the 

city.” 1 

1 Birch Rachel, (2007) "From Masterplans to Local Strategies – High and Low level Applications of 

Ecological Footprint." Paper for the International Ecological Footprint Conference Stepping Up 

the Pace: New Developments in Ecological Footprint Methodology, Policy and Practice, 8-10 

May 2007, City Hall, Cardiff. 

Some urban models allow city dwellers to give up their cars to an adapted and diversified 

transportation offer. If these models obviously lead to a reduction in car use, what 

about the emotional connection which binds the subject to the automobile. Literature 

and cinema, for example, remind us the “driving pleasure “or “feeling of freedom “. 

[129]


Figure 22 Masterplan of the town, ARUP, 2007 

[130]


Figure 32 Reduction of CO 2 emissions linked to accessibility and transport in 

Dongtan, ARUP, 2007 

[131]


Through the design layout of the city the need for transportation has been minimised 

by having an appropriate mix of facilities within walking distance of residential areas 

and village centres. The use of cars in Dongtan is going to be strongly discouraged. 

Although there is a bridge to be built creating a direct connection between Dongtan and 

Shanghai’s central business district, the idea is that residents and visitors will leave their 

vehicles at the edge of the city and then walk, cycle or use public transport. All public 

transport will run on Hydrogen or electricity generated from renewable sources and it is 

suggested that if any car is to enter Dongtan it too must run on electricity or Hydrogen. 

Not only will this significantly reduce pollution in the city but it will also cut down on 

noise making Dongtan a quiet and tranquil place to work and live. 

The proposed village centres will be designed around pedestrian and also served by 

public transport both road and water based. Each of Dongtan’s neighbourhoods will 

be designed to prevent through traffic. There will be a continuous network of walking 

and cycling routes throughout Dongtan which are connected to canals and green parks. 

There will be a continuous loop served by public transport circulating the city. It is 

estimated that it will take 7 minutes at most for a pedestrian to reach a bus or tram stop. 

The masterplan has the ability to significantly reduce the ecological footprint through 

both reducing the need to travel and encouraging the use of cycling and walking. It 

is estimated that the ecological footprint could be reduced by 56% from the baseline 

scenario. (…)” 1 

1 Birch Rachel (May 2007) “ From Masterplans to Local Strategies – High and Low level Applications 

of Ecological Footprint.” Paper for the International Ecological Footprint Conference Stepping 

Up the Pace: New Developments in Ecological Footprint Methodology, Policy and Practice, 8-10 

May 2007, City Hall, Cardiff. 

Young Japanese No Longer Interested in Cars 

“Il faut se rendre à l’évidence: l’automobile n’intéresse plus les jeunes par ici. Le Japon est 

désormais un pays pilote pour notre industrie. Car le phénomène touche d’autres pays, 

avec des exceptions notables comme la Russie ou les Etats-Unis. La situation japonaise 

nous servira de test pour imaginer un au-delà du produit automobile”, note François 

Bancon, un designer français dont la responsabilité est d’imaginer les véhicules futurs 

de Nissan. 

Le désintérêt des plus jeunes pour le symbole de la prospérité nippone pendant des 

décennies préoccupe au plus haut point les responsables du 41e Salon de Tokyo, qui 

ouvre aujourd’hui ses portes au public. Pour mesurer l’importance du phénomène, la 

JAMA, l’association des constructeurs automobiles japonais, a commandé une étude 

auprès des étudiants des universités nippones. Résultat: la voiture ne figure plus qu’au 

17e rang des centres d’intérêt de ces jeunes adultes, loin derrière l’informatique, les 

téléphones portables, les jeux vidéo ou la mode. 

[132]

La voiture, ce vieux truc 


“Pour cette génération, la voiture est un vieux truc hérité des années 50 qui pollue 

et fait du bruit. Plus de 60% des jeunes Japonais vivent dans des villes bien équipées 

en transports publics. Car, si la voiture passe de mode au détriment de l’univers de 

l’électronique et de la communication, elle est aussi victime de la crise économique. La 

jeunesse urbaine a de moins en moins d’argent, ou en tout cas plus assez pour assumer 

les coûts liés à l’entretien d’un véhicule ou aux parkings, qui coûtent très cher par ici”, 

lâche François Bancon. 

Le phénomène intervient en plus dans une société vieillissante, au faible taux de natalité. 

La clientèle automobile se resserre ainsi de toutes parts. Les ventes de voitures neuves 

baissent d’ailleurs régulièrement depuis quatre ans. Il s’est vendu 7,7 millions d’autos au 

Japon en 1990. Il s’en vendra moins de 5 millions en 2009. Le coup d’assommoir de la 

crise a éclairci les rangs des constructeurs au Salon de Tokyo, moitié moins grand que 

l’édition précédente de 2007. La manifestation se résume cette année à la présence des 

marques japonaises. Si bien que le salon, en termes d’exposants, est revenu au niveau de 

sa première édition de 1954. 

Et si en plus la clientèle de l’avenir se fait porter pâle… Les organisateurs ont donc 

multiplié les initiatives en faveur des plus jeunes. Le salon était jusqu’ici gratuit pour 

les enfants des classes enfantines: il l’est désormais aussi pour les collégiens. Les 3600 

participants à un concours de dessins d’enfants sont exposés au milieu des stands 

des grandes marques, dont l’espoir est que les plus petits entraînent leurs parents à la 

manifestation. Sony s’est installé en force près de Toyota et Nissan pour proposer le test 

de la version 5 de son jeu phare Gran Turismo. 

La séduction du virtuel 

La présence aussi voyante des PlayStation 3 a valeur de 

symbole: l’automobile virtuelle prend l’ascendant sur les 

carrosseries réelles. Lorsque Toyota a présenté mercredi les 

premières images de son futur coupé FT-86, c’était dans 

un extrait de Gran Turismo 5, où figure déjà le modèle… 

La conférence de presse du premier constructeur mondial 

était transmise en direct sur un site Web conçu pour les 

jeunes, où s’agitait le patron du groupe, Akio Toyoda, sous 

la forme d’un avatar. Akio Toyoda a sa propre explication 

sur le désamour automobile: “Ce ne sont pas les jeunes gens 

qui s’éloignent de nous, mais nous qui nous éloignons d’eux, faute 

de propositions excitantes. Nous sommes en passe de perdre notre 

Figure 33 Honda’s unicycle. This small electric engine, 

which balances all alone with gyroscopes, has reused 

the technology of humanoid robot Asimo from Honda 

[133]


propre passion automobile.” 

Cela n’empêche pas Toyota et les autres constructeurs japonais d’imaginer un au-delà 

à l’automobile, ou plutôt à la mobilité individuelle. Un futur où les véhicules n’ont plus 

quatre roues, mais une, deux ou trois. Honda a fait forte impression avec son monocycle 

électrique et gyroscopique, une espèce de botte-cul à roulette baptisé U3-X. Nissan 

propose un “planeur terrestre”, un hybride de voiture et de scooter qui accueille deux 

personnes en tandem et penche dans les virages. Et à quoi bon quatre portes? Le Subaru 

Hybrid Tourer n’en a plus qu’une, grande il est vrai. 

Conduire avec un joystick 

Pourquoi des pédales au plancher? La petite voiture électrique de Toyota, la FT-EVII, 

qui doit être lancée en 2012, regroupe ses commandes sur une espèce de guidon et se 

conduit avec un joystick. Pour intéresser à nouveau les jeunes Japonais à l’automobile, les 

espoirs des marques reposent beaucoup sur les modèles hybrides rechargeables et surtout 

sur les voitures 100% électriques. Ces futurs véhicules sont globalement moins polluants 

que leurs prédécesseurs. Et ils sont plus proches de l’univers de cette génération, un 

monde rechargeable, communiquant, branché en permanence sur le Web. “Le véhicule 

électrique est plus compatible avec leurs centres d’intérêt et leurs préoccupations”, avance le 

designer François Bancon sur le stand Nissan. Mais rien ne dit que la prédiction se 

réalisera. Les nouvelles générations japonaises sont peut-être, simplement, en train de 

passer à autre chose.” 1 

1 Debraine Luc (24.10.2009) "L’ère post-automobile.", Le Temps. 

[134]

5. "Disruptive" innovation 


[?] 

If we venture the hypothesis that we conceive today what will, 

tomorrow, draw the city and its transports, then what are today the 

relevant ideas, proposals, and projects so innovative that they 

wrongly appear far too futuristic to be taken seriously? 

Would not various existing practices converge all towards the 

disappearance of the automobile in favour of new mobilities? 

Could it be the time to prepare the transition to a post-car system? 

“(...) these agents have been described in a recent UK report as a “new wave of environmental 

pioneers” developing low carbon alternatives within many different contexts. This 

important report goes on to recommend: “In short, we need disruptive forms of innovation 

– cheaper, easier to use alternatives to existing products or services often produced by non-traditional 

players”. It further notes that this is not only a question of “new technologies” but of 

“wider forms of innovation, such as innovation in organizational forms and business models” 

as we have outlined in this chapter (...).” 1 (2009 

1Dennis Kingsley & John Urry (2009) Afer the Car, Cambridge, Polity Press, 212p. p.107. 

Disruptive innovations can help to figure out what could be a city with no cars. Indeed, 

if these radical proposals appear as utopias, they nevertheless have many interests. On 

the one hand, they set the stage of the debate around specific issues by bringing some 

committed answers; on the other hand, they extract us from our actual reference point 

in order to transport us to a believable future. Finally they contribute to a technological 

emulation which enriches innovation (especially in the transportation sector). In 1975, 

the first Personal Rapid Transit was patented. This individual transportation system has 

been very recently built in London 85 and Masdar City 86 , and is presented as a major innovation 

in transportation. Because it did not respond to requests of users of its time, the 

original and patented system failed. We shall see how, in three decades, the relevance 

and effectiveness of a transport device is suddenly recognized. 

85 At Heathrow International Airport, near London. See article below. 

86 “The world’s most sustainable city, built in Abu Dhabi" by architectural firm Foster+Partners. 

Construction started in April 2007. See article below. 

[135]


Personal Rapid Transit: U.S Patent Documents, 1975 

“A land transportation system for a vehicle that is supported and guided by air bearings. 

The vehicle requires no driver or motorman because a guide way determines the direction 

of travel, except at switch-points in the network. The vehicle is propelled by a linear 

synchronous motor when on the guide way. The linear synchronous motor primary is 

embedded in the guide way. A linear inductor alternator provides on-board electric 

power. A pair of linear induction motors is used to accelerate the vehicle from a station 

stop up to guide way synchronous speed, to provide a magnetically attractive element to 

permit switching in guide way tracks, and to provide dynamic braking when stopping 

at the destination station. No physical contact is required between the guide way and 

any part of the vehicle while in motion in order to produce tractive effort or for the 

generation of electric power on board the vehicle to supply auxiliaries such as a motor 

driving a fan, interior lights, and vehicle-to-wayside communication equipment. (…)” 1 

Figure 34 Drawing figures from U.S patent documents. E.M Sawyer, 1975 

1 Sawyer Elbert Morgan (1975) "Personal Rapid Transit System", United State Patent. 

[136]

Personal Rapid Transit: Technology Review, 2009 


“A novel kind of transit system, in which cars are replaced by a network of automated 

electric vehicles, is about to get its first large-scale testing and deployment. Two of these 

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems are being installed this year, one at Heathrow 

International Airport, near London, and one in the United Arab Emirates, where it 

will be the primary source of transportation in Masdar City, a development that will 

eventually accommodate 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses and is designed to emit 

no carbon dioxide. 

PRT systems are supposed to combine the convenience and privacy of automobiles 

with the environmental benefits of mass transit. Automated electric vehicles, or pods, 

each designed to carry from four to six people, wait at stations throughout a city or 

development, like taxis waiting at taxi stands. A person or group gets in a pod and selects 

a destination and the vehicle drives there directly. 

The concept isn’t new, the basic idea goes back at least to the 1950s. But it hasn’t caught 

on for a variety of reasons, including the cost of the initial systems and the difficulty of 

integrating them into existing cities. A number of small test systems have been installed, 

and one system that is similar to a PRT has been in operation in Morgantown, WV, 

since the 1970s. But the systems at Heathrow and in the UAE will be the first real-world 

demonstrations of a true PRT. 

Although PRT systems vary, the basic design involves a network of stations connected 

by a track that loops past all of the stations in a system. Large networks can include 

many interconnected loops. When a vehicle leaves a station, it travels along an on-ramp 

until it merges with the main loop. When it reaches the destination station, it exits this 

central loop via an off-ramp. The ramps allow individual pods to stop at a station while 

others pods continue to travel at top speed along the main track. As a result, it can be 

faster than buses, which have to stop frequently. Simulations suggest that the systems 

could run with as little as half a second between each vehicle, but the initial systems, such 

as the one in Masdar City, will keep the vehicles three to four seconds apart - enough 

to stop a pod should the one in front of it suddenly break down. A central computer 

controls the traffic. 

At both Heathrow and Masdar City, the vehicles will be battery-powered, driverless 

cars. The system at Heathrow -built by Advanced Transport Systems, based in Bristol, 

UK- uses cars powered by lead-acid batteries along a concrete track and guided by laser 

range finders, says Steve Raney, a consultant for the company. For Masdar City, a Dutch 

company called 2getthere has developed cars powered by more-advanced batteries 

made of lithium iron phosphate. The pods travel on pavement equipped with embedded 

magnets placed every five meters, which the vehicle uses, along with information about 

wheel angles and speed, to determine its location, says Robert Lohmann, the marketing 

manager at 2getthere. When a person selects a destination, a central computer designates 

a path for the vehicle, and an on-board computer makes sure the car sticks to the path. 

(The system is being used now to control vehicles that transport cargo in warehouses.) 

[137]


The closest thing to a large-scale, real-world PRT system is the project in Morgantown, 

WV. However, the vehicles are bigger than those in a PRT system: each one can carry 

about 20 people. During peak hours they run on a schedule, like a conventional transit 

system. That system, which was expensive and suffered from many problems, especially 

at first, may have helped give PRT systems a bad name, says Jerry Schneider, a professor 

emeritus of urban planning and civil engineering at the University of Washington in 

Seattle and a long-time advocate of PRTs. “People would get on the vehicles and they 

wouldn’t stop. It got ridiculed roundly in the press. At one point they talked about dynamiting 

it, tearing it down.” 

After the initial problems, however, he says that the system has run well -it still transports 

students at the University of West Virginia. What’s more, he says that technology has 

improved since then- for example, small computers are now more powerful than the 

large mainframes used to control the Morgantown system. Several new PRT vehicles 

have been developed and tested on small tracks. But there haven’t been adequate 

demonstrations to convince local governments to approve the new designs and convince 

investors to take the risk. “The simulations run fine”, says Schneider, “But until you put 

people in the cars and run them out in the open air, you can’t really be sure what’s going to 

happen.” 

Figure 35 Application of the PRT at Heathrow airport, 2008 

While Heathrow and Masdar could provide the demonstrations necessary to convince 

other cities to adopt PRT, they are special cases with controlled environments, says Luca 

Guala, a transportation planner at Systematica, a company planning the layout of the 

PRT system at Masdar. In both cases, cars are banned, so there’s no competition. What’s 

more, at Masdar, the organization of buildings within the city has been modified to 

[138]


accommodate the system. Indeed, the city will be constructed so that the main level is 

several meters above the ground, primarily to make room for the PRT. It will be more 

challenging to incorporate PRT systems into existing cities. However, he says that the 

projects at Heathrow and Masdar will help drive down costs, and that could make them 

feasible elsewhere.” 1 

1 Bullis Kevin (09.02.2009) "Personal Rapid Transit Startup", Technology, MIT Review. 

[139]


6. Summary. 

[140] 

If there is declining interest in cars, is it really a harbinger 

of its disappearance and under what conditions? 

How can city dwellers be educated about an automobile-free lifestyle? 

How can individual initiatives be encouraged and supported? 

How can new transportation policies relay them? 

How can those new transport policies be supported 

and abrupt changes be generated by them? 

What could be the relevant governance scale to successfully 

complete these new transport policies? 

Do different transportation policies generate specific urban spaces? 

What can we learn from case studies of cities with no cars? 

If the compact city model allows us to imagine the disappearance 

of the car, what about the fragmented city model? 

What impact will the possible disappearance of the car have on 

public space, given the large areas it currently occupies? 

Can we consider the disappearance of the automobile as a 

tool for densification and diversification of cities? 

Can transportation innovation meet drivers’ 

expectations by new ideas and devices? 

Is forecasting future need the best way to encourage and direct 

the innovation towards relevant and effective solutions? 

Given that technological research no longer focuses on the traditional 

car, have we not already emerged into the post-automobile age? 

[?]


If the Road Could Talk 

“(…) La route elle-même avec son macadam de plus en plus lisse, fait oublier la rugosité 

du paysage. Les voitures modernes avalent les montées et les descentes sans efforts. La 

crevaison ou l’incident se font rares. On voit de moins en moins de voitures en panne 

au bord des routes. Bientôt on vous parlera de voitures intelligentes, qui calculeront la 

distance qui les séparent d’autres véhicules, circulant sur des autoroutes intelligentes. Il 

est même possible que soit posée la question de votre utilité comme chauffeur. Le tout 

intelligent chauffeur en moins. Le GS finit par écraser le paysage et le “virtualise”. Il 

ne s’agit plus de rues, de routes mais de traits rouges et de flèches. Ne suivez plus les 

panneaux, une voix vous indiquera où tourner. Ne faites plus d’effort pour mémoriser le 

circuit, le logiciel s’en charge. (…)” 1 

1 Rabin Gilles & Gwiazdzinski Luc (2007) Si la route m’était contée, un autre regard sur la route et 

les mobilités durables, Eyrolels, Paris ,291 pages, p 20. 

These different examples, projects and views, organized by the model of John Urry 

give us some possible directions for a change in practices in the contemporary city. If 

some alternatives to car use, exist and are ready to be implemented, efforts must be 

supported to consider an actual car-free city. 

[141]


Statements and Questions on “The Hypothesis of a Post-Car World” 

from the SpaceWatch 2010 Workshop 

Statements on “The Hypothesis of a Post-Car World” 

Imagining a post-car world can be an efficient way not only to identify emerging trends 

but also to analyse the present state of mobility. We suggest taking Switzerland as particularly 

significant case study and a blueprint for the foresight of a post-car society. 

The following premises apply: 

1) The car has been a symbol of freedom since its invention and a very strong car 

culture has developed along with it. 

The arrival of automobiles also produced a car-oriented city, which means heavy and 

hardly reversible constraints on any alternative policy. The question of the weight of auto 

industries (not only car production) in societal life should be addressed here. Dual evolution 

is indeed perceptible through the continuation of car-oriented urbanisation and 

through significant signals of change. The decline of the desire for a car has begun in 

enlarging parts of the developed world, like Europe or Japan, and the revival of a public 

transportation system is clear all over the world. In large developed city centres, two 

models already exist: one relying on the car, the other without it, the latter with a clear 

growth of public mobility, including walking. 

2) Is the current key issue supply or demand? Probably demand. 

Many people have moved to places where they need to use their car on a daily basis. The 

car is linked to a certain conception of freedom inferring a separation between individual 

space and the social environment, including the privatisation of mobility space. Of 

course, the rate of car ownership and the density of public transport supply are interrelated. 

If the car market share of mobility decreases, a correlative supply of public transport 

must follow. However, the car is part of a lifestyle model, which thus means that analytical 

and utilitarian approaches are not sufficient to deal with such a societal issue. 

3) How can we create an alternative model to car-system demand? 

• By increasing public transport supply 

• By decreasing private transport supply (parking pricing, reducing road supply, road 

pricing) 

• By de-privatising individual transport and integrating individual supply (car-sharing, 

car-pooling, taxis...) into a public framework of mobility. 

Another key issue will be the question of funding. This point is particularly pertinent in 

Switzerland, as the construction of the new alpine tunnels has dried investment capacity. 

Public mobility can be considered as a public good and therefore requires a genuine, 

accurate financing plan. 

[142]


4) Individualised demand of mobility, including car use and private vehicular property, 

should be distinguished. 

Current environmental concerns can provide opportunities not only to convert fuelconsuming 

vehicles into electric cars, but also to modify the place of individual vehicles 

in the overall mobility system. Necessary technical changes in the system are appearing 

in a period when people are rather receptive to significant changes. This context seems 

favourable for a turn from an owned-car to a shared-car society. 

5) Alternatives to cars are often presented as alternatives to mobility. However, it can 

be argued that mobility and accessibility would generate an overall improved efficiency 

in a comprehensive system of dense cities with public transport systems. 

Public transport does not lead to slow cities and a post-car world would be very different 

from the pre-car world. In practice, the speed of car-based cities is inversely proportional 

to its size. Moreover, public mobility has an intrinsic relationship to public space, 

whose development is generally considered as a boost for social cohesion. A post-car 

world would be an “altermobility“ system compared to the current, but not a less efficient 

world. 

6) One question remains: Is it possible to have incremental policies? 

How is it possible to promote simultaneously pragmatic reforms and long term horizons 

of a somehow radical switch into a post-car world? A democratic process with the strong 

commitment of political and professional experts is certainly necessary. The example of 

tobacco addiction is interesting: at a certain moment, societies can be ready for a quick 

and radical change inspite of the importance of counter-forces in political and economical 

fields. What can be expected from public policy is offering more degrees of freedom 

regarding present and future strategic choices. 

7) In the context of this committed perspective, we can be alerted about the persistence 

of incoherent policies in Switzerland. 

Why would motorways, for instance, continue to possess a monopoly on highspeed and 

direct trips, as a consequence of a veto on high-speed train use on the East-West axis? Is 

it logical that gas taxes are considered as a simple fee on road use, without the possibility 

of using these revenues to improve the public transport system? Is it consistent that 

the federal government fund the building of new motorways, especially within builtup 

areas? Moving forward while respecting the specificities of the Swiss urban network 

and society requires both the opening of a vast, in-depth public debate and a comprehensive 

approach of the relationship between spatial configuration and transportation 

supply. 

[143]


Questions on “The Hypothesis of a Post-Car World” 

Individual Choices and Car Culture 

What are the psychologically and sociologically profound motivations of car use? 

What is the total cost of cars? Is a monetary unit the only pertinent mass for mobility 

time and time budget ? 

Public Policy and Scale of Intervention 

What will be the future mobility demand, considering social and demographic changes 

such as increased leisure time and aging? 

What are the relevant best practices in post-car urbanism, including outside of Europe? 

What are the issues of transport planning and financing in relation to equality and fairness 

between cities and regions? 

In times of uncertainty regarding energy supply, transport technologies and demographic 

changes, what will be the strategic alternatives to transport planning? 

Mobility Options and Urban Fabric 

Which imaginative alternative spatial systems can we simulate in terms of transportation 

technologies, architecture and public space? 

What can we gain from intra-urban rail freight service experiences? 

[144]


[145]


Participants Biographies 

Prof. Dr. Bernd Scholl 

Since 2006, Bernd Scholl has been a full professor for Spatial Planning and Development at the Institute 

for Spatial and Landscape Planning at the ETH Zurich. His teaching and research focal points 

are on land and spatial management in local and regional development, space and infrastructure 

development, transnational tasks as well as the development and organisation of innovative planning 

processes and methods in spatial planning and regional development. 

Bernd Scholl & Hesse, Beckmann, Heinrichs, Heinze, Müller, Seidemann (2010) The Interrelationships 

of Airport and Spatial Development: Zurich Airport – Experiences from a Test Planning Process, Scientific 

series of the ORL-Institute, Karlsruhe, University of Karlsruhe. 

Bernd Scholl (2009) Neue Rahmenbedingungen, Herausforderungen und Strategien für die 

großräumige Verkehrs abwicklung (new framework, challenges and strategies for the urban circulation 

flow) , Scientific and meeting bulletin of ARL, Hannover. 

Prof. Dr. Max van den Berg 

Prof Max van den Berg is an urban planner and designer. Between 1962 and 2002, he worked in the 

City Planning Agency of Amsterdam as town designer, planner and manager. Since 2002, he has 

been working as a private consultant, is on the Advisory Board of Croonen Adviseurs and a member 

of the Council Staatsbosbeheer (National Forest). He is also past President of ISoCaRP (International 

Society of City and Regional Planners). 

Dr. Xavier Comtesse 

Fascinated by communication, IT, education and innovation, Xavier Comtesse followed and took 

part in the computerization of companies and in the numerous challenges of the society by the 

digitizing of this one. Creator of three start-ups in Geneva, he exercised a pioneering work in the 

edition, communication and pre-internet telecommunications (videotex). Since 2002, Dr. Comtesse 

is the head of the Geneva office of the think tank “Avenir Suisse” mainly in charge of questions 

regarding innovation. 

Xavier Comtesse (1990) Genève : vers la communication du futur, Le Concept Moderne Editions. 

Xavier Comtesse & van der Poel C. & 13 co-autors (2006) Le feu au lac, NZZ, Tricorne. 

Xavier Comtesse (2008) L’invention des territoires directs par les gens ordinaires, Fondation Braillard. 

François Grether 

Since 1992, François Grether and his team from his Atelier d’urbanisme et d’architecture has been 

realising the conception of important urban projects in numerous remarkable cities and sites, such 

as Clichy-Batignolles, Euralille, Amiens Quartiers Nord, Lyon Confluence, Gerland, Boulogne-Billancourt 

Ile Seguin. He worked as architect and urban planner in Algeria for the Interior Ministry from 

1968-69 , responsible for studies in the Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme (APUR) from 1970 to 1992 and 

from 1972 to 1978 he is currently the director for planning studies for the sector of la Villette in 

Paris. 

Dr. Katharina Helming 

Katharina Helming is senior researcher in the field of multifunctional land use and soil conservation. 

She is head of the impact assessment research group at the Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape 

Research (ZALF) in Müncheberg, Germany. She is interested in research for policy support in 

the area of land use incl. methods for sustainability impact assessment. Katharina is field editor of 

the Journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 

[146]

Biographies 

Katharina Helming, Kutter, T. , K. , Zander, P. , Schuler, J. & Louwagie, G. (2009) A review of policies 

and the regulatory environment concerning soil conservation in the EU . - In: Jahrestagung der DBG 

: Böden - eine endliche Ressource . Kommission VIII, September 2009, Bonn: 1-4; Oldenburg (Deutsche 

Bodenkundliche Gesellschaft). 

Katharina Helming, Diehl, K., König, B. & Wascher, D. (2009) Tools for impact assessment : project summary 

- IP SENSOR, Müncheberg (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research). 

Katharina Helming, Pérez-Soba, M. & Tabbush P. (2008) Sustainability impact assessment of land use 

changes, Berlin, Springer. 

Prof. Dr. Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani 

Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani has been Full Professor of the History of Urban Design at the Swiss 

Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich since 1994. 

He was visiting professor and lecturer at the Harvard University, at the Escuela Técnica Superior 

de Arquitectura at the University of Navarra and at the Faculty of Architecture of the Politecnico in 

Milan. Since 1980 he has his own architectural practice, in Berlin and Milan. 

Vittorio Lampugnani (1986) Encyclopaedia of 20th century architecture, New York , Harry N. Abrams. 

Vittorio Lampugnani & Sachs A., (1999) Museums for a New Millenium. Concepts, Projects, Buildings, 

München, Prestel. 

Jenny Leuba 

Geographer, Jenny Leuba has been project manager of the SpaceWatch workshop 2010 at EPFL 

Lausanne. She has also been in charge of communication for the Institute for Urban and Regional 

Sciences at EPFL Lausanne. 

Jenny Leuba, Jacques L., & Lavadinho S., (2008) SpaceWatch 2008, “1m2 /second”, Territories of Debate 

in a Direct Democracy, “Space: the Achilles’ heel of sustainable Development?”, Proceeding of the SpaceWatch 

workshop 2008, EPFL, Lausanne. 

Prof. Jacques Lévy 

Jacques Lévy is a geographer and urbanist, professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 

Lausanne (EPFL). He is the director of the Chôros Laboratory and co-director of the Collège des 

Humanités. His major concerns are urbanity, political geography, spatial development, cartography, 

social theory of space, globalisation, and the epistemology of social sciences. He is co-editor of the 

EspacesTemps.net online journal, member of the editorial board of Political Geography journal and is 

the scientific adviser of the Pouvoirs Locaux journal. He is the Scientific Director of the SpaceWatch 

project. 

Jacques Lévy (1999) Le tournant géographique, Paris, Belin. 

Jacques Lévy & Lussault M. (2003) Dictionnaire de la géographie et de l’espace des sociétés, Paris, Belin. 

Jacques Lévy (2008) The City, Critical Essays in Human Geography, Aldershot, Ashgate. 

Jacques Lévy (2008) Échelles de l’habiter, Puca (Recherche). 

Prof. Michel Lussault 

Michel Lussault, born in 1960, is a geographer, full professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de 

Lyon and President (rector) of the university of Tours (2003 to 2008). He is now President of "Université 

de Lyon". He co-chaired the scientific committee of the international consultation "Un pari 

pour le grand Paris". Since 2009, he chairs the scientific committee of the PUCA (Plan urbanismeconstruction-architecture). 

Michel Lussault (2007) L'homme spatial, Paris, Seuil. 

[147]


Michel Lussault & Lévy J. (2003) Dictionnaire de la géographie et de l'espace des sociétés, Paris, Belin. 

Michel Lussalut & Lévy J. (2000) Logiques de l'espace, esprit des lieux. Géographie à Cerisy, Paris, Belin. 

Elli Nebout Javal 

Master of Architecture EPFL Lausanne. Architect in Paris and collaborator on the preliminary report 

fort the SpaceWatch project 2010. 

Dr. Luca Pattaroni 

Doctor in sociology, Luca Pattaroni teaches urban sociology at EPFL (Laboratory of Urban Sociology). 

He is also an associate researcher at the Institute Marcel Mauss (EHESS, Paris), codirector of 

EspacesTemps.net and editor in chief of Métropolitiques. His research and publications deal with 

the dynamic interrelations between urban order, pluralism and justice. His current work focus on 

subjectivation processes within cities and the impact on urban development of conflicts and collective 

action (squatters, right to the city). 

Luca Pattaroni, Rabinovich A. & Kaufmann V. (dir.) (2009) Habitat en devenir, Lausanne, Presses Polytechniques 

et Universitaires Romandes. 

Luca Pattaroni, Cantelli F., Roca M. & Stavo-Debauge J. (2009) Sensibilités Pragmatiques, Bruxelles, 

Peter Lang (Action publique). 

Luca Pattaroni, Pflieger, G., Jemelin, C. & Kaufmann, V. (2008) The Social Fabric of the Networked City, 

Lausanne, EPFL Press/Routledge. 

Prof. Ola Söderström 

Ola Söderström is professor for social and cultural geography at the University of Neuchâtel. His 

present research deals with the transformation of cities, considered as global assemblages. He was 

director of the Fondation Braillard Architectes in Geneva between 1994 and 2002 and was vice-director 

of the Fondation Science et Cité between 2002 and 2003. He has lectured at the University of 

Lausanne, at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) and at the University of Basel. 

Ola Söderström & Guggenheim M. (2009) Re-Shaping Cities. How mobility Transforms Architecture 

and urban forms, London, Routledge. 

Ola Söderström & al., (2000) L'usage du projet : pratiques sociales et conception du projet urbain et 

architectural, Lausanne, Payot. 

Ola Söderström (2000) Des images pour agir : le visuel en urbanisme, Lausanne, Payot. 

Prof. Martin Schuler 

Martin Schuler, professor at EPFL and general secretary of CEAT (Lausanne). Fields of activity: Urbanism 

and land planning; regional policy projects; territorial statistics, mobility and migrations. 

Editor of different Atlas projects in Switzerland, Iceland and Kyrgyzstan, conceptual works, spatial 

and social definitions (urban agglomerations, typology of the communities, socio-professional categories); 

demographic projections and scenario building. 

Martin Schuler, Dessemontet P., Jemelin C., Jarne A., Pasche N. & Haug W. (2006) Atlas des mutations 

spatiales de la Suisse / Atlas des räumlichen Wandels derSchweiz, OFS /BFS Neuchâtel, NZZ-Verlag Zurich. 

Martin Schuler, Dessemontet P., & Joye D. (2005) Les niveaux géographiques de la Suisse, Neuchâtel, 

Office fédéral de la statistique. 

Martin Schuler, Perlik M. & Pasche N. (2004) Non-urbain, campagne ou périphérie– où se trouve l’espace 

rural aujourd’hui?, Berne, ARE. 

[148]

Biographies 

Prof. em. Bernardo Secchi 

Professor of urbanism at Venice School of Architecture, Bernardo Secchi was professor at the Geneva 

School of Architecture, in Leuven, Paris, Rennes and Zurich and, from 1975 to 1982 Director of 

the Milan School of architecture. In 2008-09 he was among the ten architects asked by the President 

Sarkozy to develop ideas and designs for the Grand Paris. Director of “Urbanistica” from 1984 to 

1990, he collaborates on “Casabella” and “Archivio di Studi Urbani e Regionali”. 

Bernardo Secchi (1984) Il racconto urbanistico, Torino, Einaudi. 

Bernardo Secchi (2001) La prima lezione di urbanistica, Roma, Laterza. 

Bernardo Secchi (2005) La città del ventesimo secolo, Roma, Laterza. 

Dr. Silvia Tobias 

Senior researcher at the Institute of Land Improvement and Water Management at ETH Zurich, 

1995–2001. Director of the research program at WSL Federal Research Institute in Switzerland since 

July 2001. She has held several teaching positions on land use and land improvement at ETH in 

Zurich, and taught soil bioengineering at the College of Applied Sciences in Wädenswil (Canton of 

Zurich) from 1998 to 2008. 

Silvia Tobias (2008) Ballungsräume für Mensch und Natur, Birmensdorf, Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt 

WSL. 

Silvia Tobias, Di Giulio M. & Holderegger R. (2007)Landschaftszerschneidung in Ballungsräumen : was 

wissen wir über die Wirkungen auf Natur und Mensch?, Birmensdorf : Eidg. Forschunganstalt WSL. 

Silvia Tobias & al. (1999) Physikalischer Bodenschutz : Konzept zur Umsetzung der rechtlichen Vorgaben 

im Umweltschutzgesetz (USG) und in der Verordnung über Belastungen des Bodens (VBBo) / vorgeschlagen 

von der "Plattform Bodenschutz" der Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft Schweiz, Dietikon, Juris. 

Dr. Fran Tonkiss 

Fran Tonkiss is an urban and economic sociologist, and Director of the Cities Programme at the London 

School of Economics, where she convenes the Master’s Programme on City Design and Social 

Science. Her research interests include urban development and gentrification; urban divisions and 

inequalities; governance and public space; markets, capitalism and globalisation; trust and social 

capital. 

Fran Tonkiss (2005) Space, the City and Social Theory, Oxford , Polity. 

Fran Tonkiss (2006) Contemporary Economic Sociology: Globalisation, Production, Inequality, London, 

Routledge. 

Fran Tonkiss, & Slater D. (2001) Market Society: Markets and Modern Social Theory, Oxford , Polity. 

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