Urban Design

The creaking of the shimmering Morteratsch Glacier, the rumbling of ash-coloured dams and the steady sloshing of water in grey-blue Zurich reservoirs... In the “Serendipity” seminar series of Chair of Landscape Architecture Christophe Girot, researchers and students leave the seminar room to explore how places sound and how they can be explored by ear. They do this using no more than a microphone and an analogue camera.

Densification is a fundamental principle of urban planning and development today. Nevertheless, it often encounters local resistance. A group of ETH researchers has now systematically investigated factors influencing public acceptance of densification, focusing on the canton of Zurich and six cities of global importance. One key factor: affordable housing.

The Canton of Zurich recently adopted the net-zero 2040 climate protection target. Here Sibylle Wälty appeals for more 10-minute neighbourhoods, which, by making better use of the settlement area, will reduce emissions.

Nature is not a ‘nice to have’ – it’s our life support system. Dwindling biodiversity endangers the very foundation of our existence. A turnaround is possible, but only if we all want it, says Christoph Küffer.

To meet the challenges in cities related to climate change and increasing urbanization, new approaches to transforming urban space are needed. One possibility are so-called Superblocks, large-scale city blocks with little or even no motorized through traffic inside them. An Empa study has analyzed the potential of different cities to be redesigned according to this principle.

Buildings, roads, railways, supply and disposal networks and much more: The entire Swiss built environment is as complex as its challenges for the future – due to climate change, natural hazards, population growth and other factors. Where to start? With which priorities? An expert group has launched an initiative for an overall view – and thus is giving new impetus for research and practice.