How to assess urban wasteland regeneration projects ?
With the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) will develop, within the framework of a research project called SIPRIUS, an operational indicators system to integrate sustainability into urban wasteland regeneration projects. As part of one of the research axes of the laboratory that focuses on sustainable neighborhoods, this research project will provide a useful basis for the actors involved in the development and management of such projects.
In a context of urban densification, disused areas constitute an interesting potential to regain spaces for new functions in the built-up environment. Their regeneration can indeed allow foreseeing simultaneously an urban densification and a revitalization of certain portions of cities. If, since a decade, the start of a certain number of projects of this type can be observed in Swiss and European cities, it is clear that many of them relate only implicitly or superficially to the concept of sustainable development.
In response to this, the present research aims to contribute to a growing integration of sustainability into urban wasteland regeneration projects through the development of a system of environmental, socio-cultural and economic indicators enabling structured and continuous assessment (monitoring). Preliminary research has identified an initial list of criteria and indicators from the characteristics of this type of operation and achieved a first test application on a representative project in Switzerland.
As part of the continuity of this work, the objective of the SIPRIUS research project is to develop a system of indicators integrated into a monitoring digital tool. The research also includes a validation process of this new assessment system by its application on case studies selected in numerous Swiss and European cities.