Chavannes-près-Renens is the Swiss municipality with the lowest average age, at 34.4. It also holds the record for the youngest district in West Lausanne, which has an average age of 38.5, and in the canton of Vaud, where the figure is 40.6. This growth meets the urban planning objectives of the Federal Act on Spatial Planning, which seeks to tie in urban development with transport routes. “We are under pressure from the canton to achieve a high land use coefficient,” says Laabar, whose planned future in Chavannes is also centre. You will discover an area criss-crossed by major roads, a metro line and a motorway. You will also see forests and a massive sports complex owned by Lausanne City Council. “The hamlet of Chavannes (to the south) was undermined by Renens train station, which was built at some distance from it,” says Biéler. The entire history of this plot of land is summed up by the way it is divided between a rail and industrial zone to the north and marshy plains to the south. “In the past, the yokels from the south used to brawl with the louts from the north,” Christian Vernez, a local teacher, quips in his book about Chavannes, cited by town councillor Eduardo Camacho-Hübner. The latter, a Franco-Bolivian engineer who moved here as a student at EPFL in 1993, has since put down roots. His former apartment looked out over an emblematic location of the municipality’s industrial past: the Perrier plant, opened by the manufacturer in 1925, which used to produce “têtes de nègre”, the chocolate and marshmallow confectionary whose racist name was banned in 1992. Living nearby led him to devote a book to the subject. Contrary to other industrial sites in West Lausanne, which were destroyed to make room for activities or housing, the Perrier factory was transformed into a cultural and crafts hub. A welcoming place Buildings are being constructed left, right and centre. One particularly audacious project is a 36-storey tower with a planted roof in the Les Cèdres district, in the south of the municipality, on the other side of the motorway. This district should house 1,700 inhabitants. To the south-east, a medical campus is planned, hosting 4,000 students in 500 residences. On either side two new districts are being planned that will house around 2,500 people. With its excellent transport links, closeness to Lausanne and Lake Geneva and its affordable housing, Chavannes is an appealing location. Maintaining quality of life amid a burgeoning population is one of mayor Loubna Laabar’s biggest concerns. Photo: Stéphane Herzog Chavannes is a popular place to live for students (who often live in studio apartments such as this one in the “Vortex”). Yet affordable accommodation is also helping to attract new residents. Photo: Keystone linked to the EPFL, where her husband studied. This development involves ongoing effort to create infrastructure: water collection tanks, roads, schools and public facilities. Quite the challenge for a small municipality. Chavannes is home to plenty of students, but few wealthy taxpayers and only a handful of companies and has hardly any properties for sale. Intermunicipal equalisation is also heightening the financial imbalance. The mayor accepts the challenge, but the Chavannes administration is keen to preserve the region’s quality of life. A motorway with a 60 km/h limit For example, the municipality intends to set limits of 30 km/h on six of its major roads. Four already have this limit. It also recently decided to withdraw from a convention signed with the Federal Roads Office and the canSwiss Review / February 2026 / No.1 10 Report
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