Edges and Urban Landscapes

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Greater Geneva is experiencing one of the strongest urban growths in Europe. Its natural and urban heritage and its quality of life are under strain, especially its edges, at the interface of natural and urban environments. Indeed, planning policies oppose built-up and natural areas and struggle to find effective solutions to overcome conflicts of use between urban dwellers of nature and more urban rural lifestyles. These developments call for a different conception of urbanisation beyond the legacy urban/campaign divisions.Our hypothesis is that these edges make it possible to rethink the links between the city and nature in the planning strategies because they participate in the common landscape, and may constitute a guiding thread capable of reconciling the urban and natural potential of metropolitan areas. What role do these urban edges play? What are the practices and representations for users? In what ways can they constitute an urban and renaturation issue, a vector of quality of life and creation of landscapes?Using as a laboratory the cross-border territory East Geneva, including the Arve Lac corridor, the project examines the societal and ecological roles and values of the edges for the metropolis and the urban landscape. The aim is to develop a collaborative method of qualification of edges and their environment at the local level, Arve Lac and Greater Geneva.

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