Category: Publications
The Spatiality of Poverty and Popular Agency in the GCR: Constituting an Extended Urban Region
The Gauteng City-Region (GCR) in South Africa is a paradigmatic example of extended urbanization, in which the legacy of mining and apartheid continue to impact spatial practices and the experience of everyday life. The dynamics between urban centralities such as Johannesburg and regional-scale peripheries established by this legacy More
disP 57/1, March 2021
Recovery Preparedness of Global Air Transport Influenced by COVID-19 Pandemic: Policy Intervention Analysis
Solid, Fluid, Biotic. Changing Alpine Landscapes
The Alpine region is characterized by a great diversity in all spatial dimensions and qualities. This circumstance is not to be read primarily as the result of adfirst of all as an expression of the alpine topography, determined ministrative drawing of borders, but at the same time by More
Bypass Urbanism: Re-ordering Center-Periphery Relations in Kolkata, Lagos and Mexico City
A GIS-based Model of Outdoor Thermal Comfort: Case Study for Zurich
How far will you walk when it gets hot? The global climate is warming at a rapid pace, and cities around the globe are confronted with increasing temperatures. In this work, we study how the future climate will affect urban walkability in Zurich by modeling the thermoregulatory functions More
How to Achieve Parsimonious Urban Land Use: The Case of Greater Zurich
Land use regulations in Switzerland do not meet the requirements of the spatial planning act (SPA) in their guidance for parsimonious land use. If parsimonious land use is to be achieved, urban economic theories and price-based regulations must be leveraged to determine the intensity and balance of land More
Modeling, Estimation, and Control in Large-scale Urban Road Networks with Remaining Travel Distance Dynamics
The Universal Visitation Law of Human Mobility
Human mobility impacts many aspects of a city, from its spatial structure to its response to an epidemic. It is also ultimately key to social interactions, innovation and productivity. However, our quantitative understanding of the aggregate movements of individuals remains incomplete.
Exploiting Digitalisation to Plan Interventions on Large Water Distribution Networks
Cities rely heavily on the services provided by water distribution networks. These networks are large and complex, consisting of thousands of kilometres of buried pipes and dozens of facilities where water is treated, pumped and stored. Infrastructure managers are entrusted with the planning and execution of interventions on More
51N4E, Denkstatt, Endeavour, Design in Dialogue
The second volume in the ‘Chapters’ series from Brussels-based architecture firm 51N4E focuses on how design processes can be shaped through dialogue. First, it investigates their work together with two design-focused consulting firms, endeavour (Antwerp) and Denkstatt (Basel), wherein all three explore the boundaries of architecture, advocating openness More
disP 56/4, December 2020
Relational Theories of Urban Form. An Anthology
This project stemmed from the editors’ shared interest in theories of urban form and a reading seminar they jointly taught at the D-ARCH, ETH Zurich. In their ongoing investigations into questions of form in theory and practice, the relationship between the social and the material emerged again and More
COVID-19 and the Dilemma of Transport Policy Making
This short paper sets out the basic dilemma of transport policy making today, as how to strike the balance between the benefits of accessibility and the induced externalities in terms of sprawl, greenhouse gas emissions and congestion. The impacts of the Corona19 pandemic sharpens the dilemma.
CUARZO: Cities, Urban Planning and Architecture in the Reconstruction of the 0 Zones
The Impact of Land-use Legacies and Recent Management on Natural Disturbance Susceptibility in Mountain Forests
Mountain forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration and protection from natural hazards. Forest cover in the European Alps has increased over the last century, but in recent years, these forests have experienced an increasing rate of natural disturbances by agents such as windthrow, More
Evaluating Initial Building Designs Considering Possible Future Changes and Decision Flexibility: The Example of The New PET Centre of the University Hospital of Zurich
The uncertainty on the future treatments demand, recently evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, makes it challenging for hospitals managers to determine the optimal design of new clinics. Flexibility can help in optimally minimizing the service risks when the benefits of the investments justify the costs, considering the dynamism of treatment More
A Multi-dimensional Spatial Policy Model for Large-scale Multi-municipal Swiss Contexts
Switzerland’s widely adopted spatial policy rejects the use of new land in favour of promoting the densification of existing buildings or brownfield developments. However, to date there has not been an assessment of the volumetric building reserves that are still available within the current building regulatory framework. This More
Paradise Now. Die neuen Grenzen des Gartens
Grenzen überschreiten – Räume aktivieren. Transnationale Ansätze der Raumplanung in Europa
Die Herausforderungen der europäischen Raumentwicklung sind nur in transdisziplinärer Kooperation zu bewältigen. In einem sich dynamisch verändernden Europa mit seinen komplexen Wandlungsprozessen sind neue, integrierende Planungs- und Entwurfsansätze gefragt, um den Zusammenhalt zwischen den Ländern und Regionen zu stärken.
disP 56/3, September 2020
Densification Processes in Comparison: Alexandra and Marlboro South
This chapter illustrates the inadequacy of the term ‘informality’ by applying two categories of socio-spatial analysis: origin stories and urban outcomes. Densification (and de-densification) is a historical process of urbanisation – an area’s origin story – that produces socially constructed spaces – urban outcomes – in the built environment.
The Role of Information to Passengers in Public Transport Disruptions
During public transport disruptions, the performance of the public transport network is degraded due to unexpected events, resulting in delays and inconvenience for passengers. Therefore, the infrastructure managers and operating companies typically generate a new public transport timetable, called disposition timetable, to reduce passengers’ delays, thereby limiting a More
Identifying Changes in Bicycle Accident Trends Using GIS and Time Series Information in the City of Zürich
This paper presents a case study based on accident reports from the Zurich City Police. Using a joint GIS and time series analysis based on negative binomial regression, the data is analyzed to identify trends in accident development for several accident subgroups (e.g., bicycle accidents, senior citizen accidents, More
Considering Automated Vehicle Deployment Uncertainty in the Design of Optimal Parking Garages Using Real Options
Parking garages are often currently designed assuming that parking demand will be stable over their lifetime. The looming mobility shift towards automated vehicles (AVs), however, makes parking demand highly uncertain, with some scenarios leading to its complete disappearance at some time in the near future. The design of More
Sustainable Funding Strategies for Stormwater Infrastructure Management: A System Dynamics Model
Most cities in Canada do not charge a stormwater fee; consequently, stormwater programs may need to compete with other funding priorities in public works. This often leads to a lack of dedicated and predictable cash flow, which can limit municipalities’ capacity to sustain stormwater services.
Who Builds the Steel Cities? On the Relationship Between Finance, Law, and Industrial Zones in Central and Eastern Europe
Production and manufacturing have shaped nations, cities, and urban environments worldwide. The rise of China as the leading global industrial power, the phenomenon of radical automation or the new cutting-edge developments in Silicon Valley, California, have for some time attracted the focus of academic study. Contrastingly, the form More
Transforming Knowledge Systems for Life on Earth: Visions of Future Systems and how to get there
Formalised knowledge systems are important but arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future More
Neues Soziales Wohnen
Mit der IBA_Wien 2022 wurde in Wien erstmals eine Internationale Bauausstellung ins Leben gerufen. Damit stellte sich die österreichische Hauptstadt der Aufgabe, wegweisende Lösungsvorschläge und Zugänge zu den Herausforderungen unserer Zeit zu entwickeln. Im Zentrum steht das Thema des neuen sozialen Wohnens. Marie Glaser veröffentlicht in der Publikation More
Altersgerechte Lebensräume (SAGW 2/20: Lebensräume – Lieux de vie)
«Aging in Place», so lautet heute das favorisierte Leitkonzept der Alterspolitik. Wenn das selbstbestimmte Wohnen und der möglichst lange Verbleib in den eigenen vier Wänden gelingen sollen, muss gleichzeitig für ein Wohnumfeld gesorgt werden, das ansprechend und sicher ist und Begegnungen fördert. Bulletin 2/20 «Lebensräume – Lieux de More
Zuhause alt werden
Rewriting Architecture 10+1 Actions: Tabula Scripta
Rewriting Architecture explores and embraces the potential of place. The book claims that the idea of ‘tabula rasa’, or creating from scratch, is no longer a viable option. It considers the quality of the existing urban and social fabric – the tabula scripta – as an inspiration, motivation More
Projektdokumentation Jugendjobbörse Winterthur
MaaS Bundle Design
Mobility service bundling has received a lot of attention recently due to its centrality to Mobility as a Service (MaaS) business models and potential to foster sustainable travel behavior. Despite an increasing number of academic studies and commercial trials, however, there is a surprising dearth of research on More
The Impact of Vertical Densification on Public Lighting in Informal Settlements: Using Virtual Environments as an Evaluation Tool for Policy Making
There are a variety of reasons to support the premise that public lighting is beneficial to urban communities. At the same time, a key challenge for the provision of public lighting in informal settlements is their constant physical transformation. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the More
Bahninfrastrukturen. Planen – Entwerfen – Realisieren – Erhalten
Die intensive Planungs- und Bautätigkeit im Bahnbereich äussert sich in einem breiten Interesse an einem Einführungswerk. Dieses Buch ist auf Grundlage jahrzehntelanger Tätigkeit in Lehre und Forschung entstanden. Die Struktur folgt – nach einer übergreifenden Einleitung – dem Lebenszyklus einer Infrastruktur, von der Planung über die Realisierung bis More
High-mast lighting as an adequate way of lighting pedestrian paths in informal settlements?
Lighting of pedestrian paths fulfils crucial needs for informal settlement dwellers. A common technological approach in some countries to address these needs is to provide high-mast luminaires. In this paper it is shown by computer simulation that those luminaires are not able to create adequate consistent lighting conditions More
Perpetuating Architecture
disP 56/2, June 2020
Upscaling Earth. Material, Process, Catalyst
Lehmbau gehört nicht nur zu den ältesten, sondern auch zu den modernsten Bauweisen unserer Zeit. Welche ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Chancen liegen in der verstärkten Nutzung von Erde als Baumaterial? Zement als wichtiger Bestandteil von Beton wird – wie andere knappe Ressourcen auch – in Zukunft nur noch More
Probleme meistern – auch komplexe – als Auftrag der Politik
Greater Zurich does not use land parsimoniously: despite the spatial planning act, which has been in force since 1980
An overconsumption of land for building and urban use has resulted from rising incomes, falling transport costs, separating urban land use, restricting building heights and densities, and the lack of internalizing negative externalities. This paper empirically analyses whether land in Greater Zurich is used parsimoniously.
Vollzug der haushälterischen Bodennutzung in der Schweiz
Moving towards integrating soil into spatial planning: No net loss of soil-based ecosystem services
Degradation of ecosystems and the related loss of ecosystem services have called for new policies to achieve no net loss (NNL) of or even net gain between detrimental environmental impacts and restoration or preservation measures. While biodiversity offsetting has a long tradition, soils have rarely been considered in the More
Exklusiv Europabrücke. Auf Umwegen durch Zürich-Altstetten
Der Zürcher Stadtteil Altstetten ist ein Mikrokosmos der Schweiz, ein städtebauliches Laboratorium, Dorf und Metropole in einem. Er ist ein Ort der Gegensätze und Widersprüche. Davon zeugt auch die Europabrücke, dieses Monument vergangener Träume, das eine gewaltige Achse durch diese eigentümliche Stadtlandschaft schlägt. In Exklusiv Europabrücke blicken wir More
Das unvollständige Haus. Mies van der Rohe und die Landschaft
Mies van der Rohe hatte kaum Vorlieben, wenn es um die Gestaltung eines Gartens ging. Und doch: in seinen «Landhäusern» wohnt man einer fernen Landschaft gegenüber – der Dynamik von Wetter und Licht, dem Umschwung der Jahres- und Tageszeiten ausgesetzt. Haus, Mensch, Natur, meinte Mies, sollten «Teil eines More
Lost in Paradise. A Journey trough the Persian Landscape
Gärten haben im Laufe der Geschichte eine schwer zu fassende Faszination hervorgerufen. Mystische Schönheit und ein poetisches Gefühl für ewige Sehnsucht sind der langen Tradition des Persischen Gartens zu eigen. Lost in Paradise bietet verschiedene Interpretationen des ummauerten Gartens und zielt darauf ab, zeitgenössische Ereignisse mit dem rätselhaften Begriff More
Der Kosmos des Entwerfens. Untersuchungen zum entwerfenden Denken | The Cosmos of Design. Exploring the Designer’s Mind
The role of information availability to passengers in public transport disruptions: An agent-based simulation approach
In public transport disruptions, a key relation between the services of operating company and passengers’ satisfaction is the disseminated information. This paper proposes rigorous mathematical descriptions to describe the effects of information availability to passengers, including the user equilibrium and non-equilibrium solutions.