Towards flexible planning in the Swiss urban densification context – Just, or just compact?
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Date
2023-11Type
- Other Conference Item
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
For many years, residential temporary use – herein referring to an interim form
of housing, deviating from their legally-binding permanent use, taking place in
buildings or on land prior to demolition, reconstruction, or change of land use –
has been utilised by municipal planners as an informal planning instrument to
reactivate urban brownfields (Castells 1983; Bishop & Williams 2012).
Temporary use has, however, recently changed its strategic function from being
a catalyst for revitalization to testing new uses (Galdini, 2019), particularly in
cities with high population growth, density dynamics, and housing shortages.
Residential temporary use approaches (e.g., container or DIY-living, tiny
houses) are increasingly applied by city councils and municipal planning
authorities to transform industrial areas into mixed-use housing zones (Honeck
2017), providing a flexible planning solution to cope with affordable housing and
land scarcity (Debrunner & Gerber 2021). In this paper, we investigate the
following questions: (1) How do municipal planning authorities apply temporary
use as an approach to deal with scarcity of land and housing? (2) What actors
are involved, and what strategies and objectives do they follow? (3) What
challenges and recommendations result for sustainable land use and housing
policy? To answer these research questions, we follow a qualitative case study
approach of the City of Kloten, Steinacker – a 50ha transformation area owned
by approximately 35 landowners. This example stands representative for 122
industrial zones in Switzerland, aiming to be transformed into mixed-use
housing. Results help us to reflect on effective land use planning approaches
through the adaptation of flexible planning instruments, notably temporary use.
We discuss the results in comparison with international case studies (e.g.,
London, Amsterdam, Helsinki), to elucidate prerequisites encompassing legal,
planning, procedural, and other dimensions that must be satisfied to enable a
sustainable transformation from an industrial area to a mixed-use zone. Show more
Publication status
publishedBook title
Abstract Volume 21st Swiss Geoscience MeetingPages / Article No.
Publisher
Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT)Event
Organisational unit
02656 - Inst. f. Raum- und Landschaftsentw. / Inst Spatial and Landscape Development02655 - Netzwerk Stadt u. Landschaft ARCH u BAUG / Network City and Landscape ARCH and BAUG
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ETH Bibliography
yes
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