Forum des transitions urbaines 2023
Freilager neighborhood, Zurich (arch. Rolf Mühlethaler) © gataric-fotografie
Entitled "Towards Post-Carbon Neighborhoods", the Forum des transitions urbaines will be held on September 8, 2023 in the Auditorium of Microcity, a branch of the EPFL in Neuchâtel (Switzerland). Organized jointly by the Ecoparc Association and the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in partnership with the journal Tracés, the biennial event will approach this crucial theme for our built environment from different angles.
The Forum des transitions urbaines addresses various urban planning, landscape, architectural, and systemic issues with the aim of offering participants an overview of key parameters, innovative approaches, and pioneering experiences. Thanks to the diversity of the examples presented, this meeting is aimed at researchers, practitioners, political decision-makers, and public service managers interested in the transition and, more broadly, in the qualitative evolution of urban territories.
The rich program of speakers reflects this, including Sylvain Grisot (dixit.net), Hélène Chartier (C40 Cities), Yannick Beltrando (Anyoji Beltrando), Claire Schorter (agence laq), Ulrich Liman (LAST), Yves Schihin (Oxid Achitektur), Raphaël Ménard (AREP) and Emmanuel Rey (LAST/ Bauart), who will address the theme of post-carbon neighborhoods from various angles.
In a context of climate emergency and shrinking available resources, the need to preserve arable land for agriculture and to protect ecosystems for biodiversity encourages the regeneration of already urbanized territories. With a view to a decarbonized society, it seems fundamental to act simultaneously on multiple dimensions related to both climate protection and adaptation to the consequences of its changes. The result is the need for profound transformations in our living environment, notably concerning the organization of buildings, mobility management, construction methods, the multiplication of green spaces, the development of local resources, and the abandonment of fossil fuels.
At the interface between the urban vision and the architectural project, approaches developed at the neighborhood scale make it possible to take these criteria into account beyond the building alone, while remaining circumscribed sufficiently to grasp them tangibly. As part of a dynamic process of reorienting developments within the urban built environment, they concern with both the revitalization of existing neighborhoods and the creation of new polarities near public transportation. Achieving transition at the neighborhood scale is by far not limited to downtowns, but today concerns a wide variety of sites.