Symbiotic Districts : Innovative design strategies for local energy production and resource self-reliance at neighborhood scale

The project Symbiotic Districts aims to develop a new design and calculation methodology for creating symbiotic districts in the Swiss urban context. The research examines the scientific, technical, urban development and architectural dimensions that influence local energy and resource self-reliance at the neighborhood scale. The transposal of industrial ecology tools to the field of urban and architectural planning allows the integration of energy issues related to habitat, activities, infrastructure, mobility and food. Thus, this approach is positioned precisely at the intersection between disciplines that focus on technical aspects, and others that focus more on design strategies. In other words, it explores the relationships between the quantitative factors related to energy independence (taken from industrial ecology) and the qualitative and operational factors related to their implementation in concrete projects (urban and architectural design).