France, Switzerland, Agglomération franco-valdo-genevoise, Canton of Geneva, district of Nyon, Pôle Métropolitain du Genevois Français

France, Switzerland, Agglomération franco-valdo-genevoise, Canton of Geneva, district of Nyon, Pôle Métropolitain du Genevois Français

Border Region
France, Suisse, Agglomération franco-valdo-genevoise, canton de Genève, district de Nyon, Pôle Métropolitain du Genevois Français
Language(s)
Français
Allemand
Introduction

The Greater Geneva (Grand-Genève) consultation brought together 7 forward visions addressing ways of inhabiting this future "City-landscape" in line with ambitious sustainable development objectives.

Summary

The Greater Geneva consultation is intended to renew the way territories look to the future taking into account sustainable development issues. This consultation involves the active participation of all the actors in the territory along with experts in territorial development and other related fields. The process has produced 7 concrete, mapped-out proposals for the transition of the cross-border territory of Greater Geneva. The aim of these proposals is to raise awareness among citizens, politicians and other actors of the urgency of the climate change issue and the wide variety of possible ways of responding to it.

Content

This consultation was conducted at the initiative of the Braillard Architectes foundation under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme and under the patronage of the Swiss Office for Spatial Development. It brought experts in spatial development and related technical and scientific fields into contact with local authorities and decision-makers.

The consultation was organised as a two-stage process: first the selection of 7 interdisciplinary teams of designers and specialists following a wide-ranging public appeal, then a forward-looking research phase involving these teams, the cross-border territorial authorities, the steering committee and a college of experts. These experts are scientists specialising in topics relating to the territorial ecological transition, experienced practitioners and prominent figures from the fields of spatial development and urban planning.

The consultation encompassed the following 7 forward visions:

  • "Greater Geneva and its land. ownership, ecology, identity" prepared by Milica Topalovic, Florian Hertweck and Rolf Jenni. They have looked at the traditions and potential of land occupancy for gardens, and urban and periurban architecture in Geneva and the surrounding area.
  • "The great crossing: looking for singular ecologies" prepared by Franck Hulliard. His work is an exploration allowing the identification of places, networks and emerging processes specific to the ecosystems in the Geneva area taking account of climate and societal changes.
  • "Metabolising the invisible" prepared by Mathias Armengaud, Marc Armengaud, Martin Rein-Cano and Dieter Dietz. They offer an inventory of networks in all their forms (social media, users' networks, infrastructure networks) and their potential.
  • "Energy Landscape" prepared by Oscar Buson, Lorenz Eugster, Sascha Roesler, Giulia Scotto, Guido Rindsfüser and Thiébaut Parent. They have drawn up a critical and forward-looking mapping of the territorial dynamics linked to energy in its widest sense.
  • "Resource countries" prepared by Nathalie Mongé, Séraphin Hirtz, Raphaël Niogret, Thomas Bolliger, David Martin and Sébastien Munafò. They look at the great diversity of resources available in the territory of Greater Geneva and their economic and social potential.
  • "From land to labour: the transition, a new biopolitical project" prepared by Paola Viganò, Vincent Kaufmann, Roberto Sega and Pascal Boivin. They have produced the first cross-border "transition atlas" with the aim, in particular, of finding economic alternatives to counter the imbalance in terms of job availability across the territory.
  • "Geneva: a metropolitan constellation" prepared by Stefano Boeri, Michel Desvigne, Pier Paolo Tamburelli, Klaas De Rycke and Rawad Choubassi. They have examined the tradition of creativity and innovation in the cross-border region and propose to activate it to develop existing urban polarities and those than can be created.
Conclusions

The consultation meets the following objectives: to anticipate the urban transformations imposed by the urgency of the environmental situation and the related territorial transition, to propose a common cross-border project that will carry as wide a consensus as possible among citizens and to find renewed approaches and methodologies to carry through this overarching project.

The 7 visions, thanks to the diversity of the points of view their offer and their ambition, have updated the perception of the scale of the transformation of urbanised spaces that needs to take place to cope with the environmental emergency. In addition, although each vision is different, they all place the emphasis on endogenous development, i.e. development based on the resources, fabric and forces that already exist in the territory of Greater Geneva. The existing urbanised spaces are therefore destined to undergo some radical changes, linking them directly with the neighbouring non-urbanised spaces.

The expression of these 7 visions also constitutes a key stage in the process of acceptance of the urban transition by citizens and deciders alike. The consultation and dialogue this process has already allowed must be continued and widened to bring into the process the deciders and citizens concerned by the final outcomes.

Key Messages

This type of process and study is becoming more and more popular. Its open nature is in fact well suited to heterogeneous cross-border territories as well as to the scale of the urban challenges to be met. The non-binding nature of the outcomes is an advantage when it comes to the adoption and validation of these measures by the different actors concerned. Their simple involvement in the process is a first step on the way to the acceptance of these visions. The numerous approaches brought together within this consultation process also show the resources, often overlooked, that exist in the cross-border territory of Greater Geneva.

Lead

Fondation Braillard Architectes

Author of the entry
Contributions

Confédération Suisse,
Canton de Genève,
Ville de Genève,
Pôle métropolitain du Genevois français,
Département de la Haute-Savoie,
Département de l’Ain,
Conseil d’architecture, Urbanisme et Environnement de Haute-Savoie (CAUE 74),
Patrimoine Suisse Genève,
Services Industriels Genevois (SIG),
Fédération des Architectes et Ingénieurs (FAI) de Genève,
Fédération des Architectes Suisses (FAS),
Fédération Suisse des Urbanistes – section romande (FSU-r),
Société Suisse des Ingénieurs et Architectes (SIA),
Association genevoise des Ingénieurs Géomètres officiels et Géomaticiens (AGG),
Association Genevoise des Ingénieurs (AGI),
Fédération Suisse des Architectes Paysagistes (FSAP),
Rentes Genevoises et la Banque Pictet,
Nations Unies pour l’Environnement,
Office fédéral du développement territorial

Contact Person(s)
Date of creation
2020