Governance for sustainable spatial development – a comparative study of Luxembourg and Switzerland (SUSTAIN-GOV) - FHSE

The project at a glance

Start date:

01 Apr 2013
Duration in months:

24
Funding:

FNR – Luxembourg
Principal Investigator(s):

Markus HESSE

About

The project, SUSTAIN_GOV, investigated sustainable spatial development policies in the context of governance, both with respect to Luxembourg and, as a comparative approach, to the Swiss planning system. SUSTAIN_GOV built directly on the conceptual and empirical foundations established by the previous SUSTAINLUX project (CO9/SR/01) that demonstrated that despite intense urbanization pressure, the strains on land resources and infrastructure, and the political dilemmas these issues raised, policy, planning and governance practices in the Grand Duchy remained underdeveloped. Particularly problematic was citizen involvement in public decision-making around landuse. SUSTAIN_GOV brought into sharper focus a more nuanced scientific understanding of participation, governance, and integrated sustainable spatial development, by looking at urban transformation processes in the City of Zurich and the newly branded and neighbouring Glatt City. Following a qualitative methodological approach, planning and governance processes in this Swiss urban region were reconstructed. Given that there were a several framework conditions that resembled those of Luxembourg, such as growth pressure and municipal autonomy, the Swiss condition provided numerous lessons that could provide new insight into topics like (post)suburbanization, extended urbanization, inter-municipal competition, and patterns democratic decision-making over spatial planning.