Eco-neighbourhoods, or sustainable neighbourhoods as they are also commonly known, are a growing source of interest among town planners, politicians, the construction industry as well as the general public both in Switzerland and in neighbouring countries. Although still somewhat modest in scale, these schemes which are springing up all over the country are considered to be a beacon of urban planning that is more ecologically- and people-sensitive.

No emissions, no waste, no cars

What is an eco-neighbourhood exactly? Experts use the term to refer to an urban neighbourhood which has been either built from scratch or redeveloped in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and is designed in such a way as to minimise the size of its residents’ ecological footprint. Distinguishing features of these neighbourhoods include the use of renewable and recyclable building materials, energy-efficient heating systems that dramatically cut CO2 emissions, the complete absence of fossil fuels, rainwater collection and the recovery of household waste, for example through composting.

Besides the use of clean technologies, these sustainable neighbourhoods offer their residents the chance to embrace a whole new way of life. Most initiatives do not tend to encourage individual car ownership, preferring instead the provision of better public transport links and car-sharing schemes. In stark contrast to traditional neighbourhoods which have given rise to socially and generationally compartmentalised cities that are further divided into distinct residential, commercial and industrial areas, eco-neighbourhoods actively seek to be socially diverse and mixed-use zones.

Turning brownfields green

Some 10 eco-neighbourhoods have already been or are currently being built in Switzerland, mostly on disused industrial sites, former rail corridors and vacant lots.

Take, for instance, “Gundeldinger Feld” in Basel, Switzerland’s first eco-neighbourhood. Built on the site of a former factory, it is today home to some 70 tenants, including tradespeople, restaurants, a day nursery, a theatre, a library and a youth club. Energy use in this microcosm has been halved thanks to extensive roof and floor insulation and the installation of solar panels.

The city of Lausanne in western Switzerland is set to become the site of one of the largest eco-neighbourhoods in the country. The appositely named project “Métamorphose” will see the re-development of the former Olympic Stadium into a high-value sustainable neighbourhood, spread over a total of 30 hectares (the equivalent of around 40 soccer pitches). In addition to providing homes for up to 5,000 residents, there will be workshops and studios for around 300 artists and trades people. The stated aim of the team behind the project is to make the neighbourhood a CO2 emission-free zone by ensuring that all buildings have high-quality thermal insulation and through a wise and appropriate choice of energy sources.

Pipedream or the shape of things to come?

Critics of eco-neighbourhoods consider them to be nothing more than a modern-day utopia and doubt whether such a model can ever become the norm. While initiatives currently under way are a tiny dot on the vast landscape of conventional construction projects in Switzerland, they nevertheless could offer promising solutions, which ultimately could signal the end of energy waste.

These projects are part of a vision of the future to which Switzerland keenly subscribes, namely the “2000-Watt society”. Developed by researchers at the Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich with support from the Swiss government, this vision aims to reduce the energy consumption of every inhabitant of the planet to 2000 watts by 2100.

The 2000 watts goal is anything but random. In fact, it corresponds to the average per-capita use of all forms of energy. However, consumption varies widely from one country to another: in Switzerland we consume 5000 watts per person, compared to 12,000 in the United States and a mere 500 in Ethiopia.

Cutting energy consumption without sacrificing comfort: it is precisely this delicate balance that these new eco-neighbourhoods, in their role as life-size laboratories, hope to put to the test.