Urban planners have to take into account several different objectives during the design process, such as optimizing a neighbourhood’s built density, preserving old monuments and cities, or using renewable energy, according to the EPFL. With these challenges in mind, two researchers in the EPFL’s School of Engineering Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering (IPESE) Group – Sébastien Cajot and Nils Schüler – have developed a software to simplify the urban planning process.
Available as a web application, planners enter key criteria important to them and the program, called SAGESSE, then provides them with an overview of the different variants possible. The two researchers worked with the Canton of Geneva to develop their software, testing it out on two of the city’s neighbourhoods.
According to Cajot, today’s approach to urban planning does things backwards. “Planners typically outline four of five possible variants for a given neighbourhood and then model them to quantify the impact of each.” Instead, the objectives should be the starting point.
For instance, if the aim is to cut CO2 emissions, the software comes up with the best variants to achieve this. If meeting a specific cost is also a requirement, then the software indicates to the user when the cost is not compatible with the other requirements. The urban planner can then adjust their targets and objectives until they find a variant acceptable to everyone.
In the medium term, the researchers would like to launch a startup to market their urban planning software. The IPESE Group is also looking into applying the technology in other fields, such as helping to implement Switzerland’s energy strategy.
