Swiss Review 5/2018

Swiss Review / September 2018 / No.5 9 Flats for some 7,000 persons and 4,000 workplaces are planned for the Plaines-du-Loup dis- trict in Lausanne. The municipality as property owner guarantees high quality and reasona- ble prices. “It is standards of living which have increased,” says Christa Perregaux. Densification is thus necessary, albeit while maintaining quality of life. Housing cooperatives: accessible housing in the centre According to Nicolas Bassand, hous- ing cooperatives represent the best way of realising housing close to the centre but accessible to different types of income. He cites the eco-dis- trict of Plaines-du-Loup, in Lausanne, a peri-urban area, planned to accom- modate 11,000 inhabitants, and which will include cooperatives. At the same time, the cooperative sys- tem, which is very fashionable in Ger- man-speaking Switzerland, requires local authorities to own the land used. “In Plaines-du-Loup, themunicipality of Lausanne, which owns the ground, ensures high quality, but if we are on land in private hands, it’s a very dif- ferent situation,” says Jérôme Chenal. The architect and town planner gives the example of the Praille-Aca- cias-Vernets (PAV) project in Geneva, which aims to create 12,000 resi- dences and 6,000 jobs. This publicly owned area, made available to com- panies on a very long-term basis, sharpens the appetite of property de- velopers, who aim for the highest possible ratio of privately owned flats to cheaper family apartments. The risk of gentrification of centres due to urban density Indeed, local authorities have already built in city centres in the past. This is what occurred in Geneva during the 1960s with the rental blocks of the Honegger Brothers, in the Jonc- tion neighbourhood. “In Lausanne, themunicipal authority stated that it didn’t have the resources when in fact, residential rentals would gener- ate a capital gain on landwhich could be redistributed,” argues Jérôme Che- nal. By contrast, the state develops ef- ficient public transport. “Local au- thorities provide infrastructure, which benefit private agents through an increase in the attractiveness of residences located close to railway stations,” says the director of CEAT, citing the future M3 in Lausanne as an example. The researcher highlights gentri- fication here, which would be one of Within Geneva, an acute need for housing has to be reconciled with a fear of urban sprawl Building wherever possible or suffocating in intense traffic and failing to house its own in- habitants. This, in essence, is the situation which Geneva is experiencing, for which the watchword is in line with that of the spatial planning act: densify! The aim is to build 2,500 residences every year until 2030 to house 100,000 people. This is a case of making up for lost time in a canton which creates employment and attracts new workers, while exporting part of its labour force beyond its borders. This “common sense” message is carried by the Green construction minister Antonio Hodgers to the city and its surroundings and is met with accusations that he wants to build at any price. The architect and town planner, Jérôme Chenal, considers that “Geneva has no choice. If it wants to accommodate its workers, it will have to find a way of handling its agricultural zone, since the development of the small house zone is too difficult to execute and will take 50 years.” The problem is the “good land”, termed crop rotation zones, is protected by the Confedera- tion and Geneva is reaching the end of its reserves of building land. “Berne is aware of these problems and is studying this question,” says Christa Perregaux DuPasquier. However, she expresses reservations. “If we touch crop rotation zones, we run the risk of opening Pandora’s box and witnessing several cantons demanding waivers,” she says. the major risks associated with the densification of cities. For Christa Per- regaux DuPasquier there is just one solution: “The statemust intervene to build residences with public utility.”