We aim to contribute to sustainable, democratic and just urban development through research and teaching. We enhance the understanding of and develop possible solutions for policy and planning challenges that emerge in urbanized regions globally. We are an interdisciplinary group working at the intersection of public policy, planning and urban studies.
Theresia Morandell, Michael Wicki, and David Kaufmann recently published a new article in Landscape and Urban Planning. The article examines to what extent and how urban-rural linkages feature in spatial plans adopted by city administrations. They find that both physical and functional interdependencies between core cities and their surrounding municipalities within the so-called city-region are addressed.
Elena Lutz and Simon Büchler have published a paper in the Journal of Urban Economics. The paper investigates the effects of upzoning in the Canton of Zurich. The results show that upzoning is successful in increasing the densification of the built environment. However, the effects are heterogeneous, with upzoning creating more housing more quickly when applied to areas with high housing demand and when the increase in allowed density is relatively large.
Yael is a new postdoctoral researcher supported by a grant from the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) to study whether policymakers respond to technology pilots projects in informal settlements.
Can we meet the challenges of limited space and a growing population while reducing CO2 emissions by redesigning our city streets? The E-Bike City project at ETH Zurich’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering says "yes". Through new research and visualisations, the researchers show that prioritising shared mobility, green spaces and bike-friendly streets improves quality of life, reduces emissions and dependency on cars – all in a cost-effective way.
Cities are critical to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. New research shows that European cities tend to prioritize environmental and technical issues, such as biodiversity or transportation, while their residents prefer issues linked to everyday needs, such as cost of living or public health. This is reported by D-BAUG researchers in the journal “Nature Sustainability”.
