Sustainable neighborhoods, new trend or necessity?
Prof. Emmanuel Rey of the Laboratory of architecture and sustainable technologies (LAST) took part in the round table of the Sustainable Development Forum organized on 18th May 2011 by the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy at the Kursaal Congress Center in Bern. This event, to which more than 300 participants took part, allowed evaluating the situation on matters such as research and practice in the field of sustainable neighborhoods.
Many actors are involved in the implementation of sustainable urban development integrating issues relating to environment, society and economy. The neighborhoods are microcosms which are well suited in achieving this commitment through, in particular, green buildings, urban design promoting social and intergenerational mixing, soft mobility devices or services supporting local economy.
In this perspective, the Sustainable Development Forum allowed identifying the needs, the opportunities, but also the difficulties encountered in the development of sustainable neighborhoods. The potential of new urban centers, the renovation of older sectors, the optimal involvement of many actors, the participation of users, the assessment approaches, the control of land and the types of partnership between public and private actors are some of the themes addressed during this event.