Urban renewal and sustainability
In an article published in the magazine "Building and Environment", Maria Gracia Riera Pérez, PhD student, and Prof. Emmanuel Rey of the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) present the first results of a research dealing with the issues related to the sustainability assessment of urban renewal projects. The article highlights in particular how the diagnostic of an existing neighborhood and the multi-criteria comparison of various intervention scenarios can really help the decision making process for the choice of an operational strategy.
The post-industrial European city is characterized by dispersed urbanization, resulting in increased travel, substantial use of land, social disparities and infrastructural costs that are unsustainable in the long term. Consequently, most European countries have set the goal of limiting urban sprawl by prioritizing increased density in already built-up areas.
In the frame of an ongoing research project undertaken in collaboration with the City of Lausanne, the LAST is developing an original approach in view of having in time a new tool allowing the structured diagnostic of an existing neighborhood and a multi-criteria comparison of different intervention scenarios. The paper published in "Building and Environment" presents in particular the results of a case study carried out in the Fleurettes neighborhood, located near the train station of Lausanne.
Maria Gracia Riera Pérez, Emmanuel Rey, "A multi-criteria approach to compare urban renewal scenarios for an existing neighborhood. Case study in Lausanne (Switzerland)". Building and Environment, vol. 65, p. 58-70, 2013.