“We need to make smarter use of existing infrastructure, rather than constantly expanding it”

Why a third generation?
Van Wezemael: Because the ecological “planetary boundaries” are forcing us to redevelop existing settlement areas that are in active use. This redevelopment is overwhelming the traditional approaches to cooperation, while the formerly well-established, institutionalised representation of interests is facing a legitimation crisis. In addition, social media fosters a culture of concern and outrage. As spatial planners, we have to learn to deal with this. 

What are some examples of challenges that this new spatial planning generation will need to face? 
Van Wezemael: Many current spatial and mobility-related challenges can now be reimagined thanks to data-driven AI approaches. For example, in Switzerland, as elsewhere, many employees have come to accept home office arrangements and more digital, remote and flexible ways of working – a shift accelerated by the lockdown experience during the Covid crisis. 
For the first time in 200 years, this opens up the possibility of reducing the spatial separation between work and home life, which caused a level of forced mobility, and high traffic volumes. 
Coworking spaces, shared mobility solutions and adaptive traffic management systems are now enabling new approaches to alleviate congestion in commuter traffic.

Rupf: Since the 1990s, there has been a shift from spatial planning to spatial development in terms of study and continuing education at ETH Zurich. This latter follows a more strategic approach that not only asks what is being built and where, but also how living spaces can be developed sustainably and in collaboration with multiple stakeholders. Today, in the continuing education MAS in Spatial Development at ETH Zurich, we are taking things a step further by approaching planning tasks from the perspective of the users and the environment itself.

What does that mean?
Rupf: It is about including stakeholders, facilitating mutual understanding and shaping negotiations to develop sustainable, resilient and regenerative spaces that can also withstand crises, natural events and socio-economic change – all while offering a high quality of life. This requires compelling visions and clear target scenarios for spatial development. That is what we teach in the MAS programme.

What do these new target scenarios look like?
Van Wezemael: The main task of settlement development today is the development of urban agglomerations. However, this is still mainly viewed from the perspective of town centres, which is a deficit-oriented view that we want to move away from. New solutions emerge when we shift our perspective: Small forests located in urban agglomerations are more than just the outer margin at the edge of the settlement area. If anything, when we “read” space, we should start with the open spaces and natural environmental resources of the area. In Zurich’s Glatt Valley, for instance, it is the Hardwald forest that joins together seven communities, creating a collective identity and a unique quality of life. Here, a good target scenario for the settlement development would therefore be “the Glatt Valley’s own Central Park”.