Implementation of a sustainability monitoring tool into the dynamics of an urban brownfield regeneration project

Within the context of post-industrial European cities, the regeneration of urban brownfields contributes to limit urban sprawl by increasing cities density while revitalizing neighborhoods. Yet because of their complex nature, urban brownfields regeneration projects (UBRP) are not automatically sustainable. To foster the integration of sustainability objectives into these projects dynamics, an operational monitoring tool was created. Entitled SIPRIUS+, this tool is a collaborative web-based software combining sustainability indicators adapted to UBRP issues and several management functionalities. Test applications conducted on case studies and presented to the related stakeholders gave positive insights about the potential of SIPRIUS+ to provide decision-making support. However, because of the long duration of UBRP, some aspects inherent to monitoring were not verified and the tool not piloted in real conditions. In order to confront SIPRIUS+ with the reality of the practice and its end-users, the tool is now being implemented for an 18-month period in the Gare-Lac neighborhood project located in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland). The paper investigates how SIPRIUS+ is actually implemented into the project's ongoing urban planning procedure. Then, we analyze preliminary feedbacks to measure the level of adoption of the monitoring approach by the different stakeholders and to identify points of improvement.