Assessing the Environmental Impact of Future Urban Developments at Neighbourhood Scale

This paper presents the results of a two-year trans-disciplinary research project investigating opportunities and limitations of the Swiss 2000-Watt/1-ton CO2 society vision for the transformation of industrial sites into liveable neighbourhoods. By involving local stakeholders we elaborated four plausible scenarios for the transformation of an industrial area in the city of Zug, Switzerland. Based on life cycle analysis methods and urban energy modelling, we estimated the carbon and energy footprint of every scenario due to construction, operation, retrofit and dismantling of buildings, production processes and logistics, commuting, and business flights. The results of our research present a comprehensive description of focal points of environmental impact in future forms of urban development and a description of the role of industry in a transition towards more sustainable urban environments. These are topics of high interest for decision makers involved in initiatives for the sustainable transformation of neighbourhoods such as the 2000-Watt Areale or alike.