Linking spatial characteristics to residential lifestyles. A framework for analysing the hospitality potential of urban and architectural designs

Today, in many European countries, increasing opposition tends to thwart urban densification projects. To enhance public acceptability of such projects, which are likely to promote sustainable urban development, it is essential to better anticipate urban programming based on target groups of inhabitants with different lifestyles. The purpose of this innovative, upstream interdisciplinary research is to forecast and analyse the needs of these populations in accordance with their lifestyles and subsequently propose an urban and architectural vision adapted to the lifestyles considered desirable for the site. By doing so, it addresses the often-neglected social aspects of sustainable urban development projects. This article presents an application of this approach to the strategic Waldstadt area (Bern, Switzerland). Six urban visions are compared and assessed, each offering promising leads and recommendations for the site's development. Lifestyle urban planning gives architects and planners a powerful decision-making tool for integrating social considerations into the design of sustainable neighborhoods It is also a concrete solution to acceptance issues and their resulting tensions.