Peri-urban communities in transition: transformation scenarios of neighbourhoods towards sustainability

The paper outlines the theoretical context and preliminary outputs of the investigation on the prospective evolution of existing peri-urban neighborhoods of single-family houses toward lower carbon and more resilient communities, for 2050, in Switzerland. Embedded within the Helvetic territorial and administrative context, the paper introduces a multi-scale definition of "peri-urban residential municipalities", as a basis to set up a typology of peri-urban neighborhoods of single-family houses. The typology results from the close observation of peri-urban neighborhoods in Lausanne’s urban region. It identifies five neighborhood types among which five representative case studies are selected for the next steps of the research. The paper focuses on one of the most common types and presents the application of three exploratory scenarios of mid-term transformations on the selected case study. The current policy framework and multiple prospective studies about demographic dynamics, sustainable neighborhoods, single-family houses adaptation, etc. are the main guidelines of the design process. The selected design paths investigate several scales of mutations, from the perpetuation of current life-styles to deeper social and environmental transformations. Finally, several indicators, proceeding from current major issues faced by the residential peri-urban neighborhoods, highlight the performances and challenges of each scenario, through the spectrum of sustainability.