FLOWS
DATA How do I get from A to B?
Subproject Leaders:
Mathias Bernhard (EPFL)
Patrick Gras (ELCA)
This subproject lays the structural foundation for subsequent subprojects by kickstarting the development of the base urban data platform: a framework which will ensure compatibility and interoperability of data, other systems, or platforms through standards and interface. The goal is to establish an open framework to integrate and facilitate interactions and ensure informative and efficient workflows between subprojects as the flagship progresses. The result will integrate information layers for existing urban spatial data flows, possibly implemented as a web-based application, possibly with external cloud-based computing capabilities which the various stakeholders can interact with.
WASTE Did my plastic cub get recycled?
Suprobject Leaders:
Ga In Sim (EPFL)
Ludovic Balmer (Helvetia Environnement)
This subproject’s area of focus is waste production and evacuation flows within the living lab of Lausanne. The goal is to map flows of urban waste, from production and collection, to final treatment as well as flows reused within the economy, and develop a dashboard to stimulate innovation and assist decision-making. Since waste is an integral part of every sublayer of the city, this subproject will maintain transversal links to several other subprojects, in particular to material and energy flows.
MATERIALS Does the brick really wants to be an arch?
Suprobject Leaders:
Francisco Del Campo (EPFL HERUS)
Geoffroy Quintas Neves (BG/WSP).
This subproject focuses on the flow of construction materials within a specific use-case of the Lausanne living lab. As one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions, construction of buildings and infrastructure is a process which is not slowing down, even in highly-urbanized environments such as Switzerland. Swiss sustainability strategies are aiming for 50% reductions in CO2 emissions by 2030 based on the levels in 1990. The construction and real estate industries are the source of around 85% of all waste generated in the country, and a large share of CO2 emissions. Other issues like overuse of concrete, lack of sustainable building solutions, circular economy strategies and policies to promote them are endemic to traditional city-planning, and require careful mapping and further research to integrate into future developments.
ENERGY + WATER
Who left the tap water running?
Energy Suprobject Leaders:
Jonas Schnidrig (HES-SO)
Philippe Corboz (Romande Energie).
Water Suprobject Leaders:
Claudio Ferro (AFRY)
TBD (Droople)
This subproject focuses on mapping the flow of urban utility infrastructure with a focus on energy systems and water. These crucial layers that underlie the basic functioning of cities are key to understanding the ebb and flow of urban ecosystems, particularly in the context of drastic shifts in mobility (pandemic, shifting life/work spaces), and longer term, global issues (urbanization, climate change).
NATURE Where did all the foxes go?
Suprobject Leaders:
Marcela Delgado (EPFL)
Claudio Ferro (AFRY).
This subproject focuses on the natural flows within an urban environment, in particular the importance of mapping and understanding their distribution and access, with close attention paid to biodiversity, multi-species flow patterns, natural transition buffers. As such, the goal of this project is to study and implement a methodology for mapping natural urban space, from its spatial location and qualities, to the diversity of its ecosystem (insect, plant-life, wildlife), and elucidate its interactions within the central platform.
PEOPLE What happened to Lina, Matteo and Luca?
Suprobject Leaders:
Marco Miotti (ETHZ)
TL (TBD).
This subproject focuses on citizen mobility and transportation. From daily commute to accessibility of leisure, commerce, education, and healthcare, transportation mapping is a topic that has already attracted much research and development within urban sciences and industry, and is highly connected with and interdependent to other layers.
GOODS + FOOD
Will I get my avocados this winter?
Will I get my avocados this winter?
Goods Suprobject Leaders:
Fabian Torres (EPFL)
Thomas Wälchli (Swiss Post).
Food Suprobject Leaders:
TBD
Julie Schupbach (Agropole).
Access to urban consumables, whether food or consumer goods, is crucial to the functioning of any urban environment, and one of the more visibly affected flows during the COVID-19 pandemic, which heavily increased digital acceleration to the point where suppliers and logistics systems could not keep up. Digital transformation is an ongoing phenomenon which will continue to have drastic shifts on the urban distribution of consumables, and require better understanding of ebbs and flows to move towards better resilience.
AI What are we going to do with all this data?
Subproject Leaders:
Paul Keel (EPFL)
Jeffrey Huang (EPFL)
This subproject realizes Generative Spatial AI (GSAI), combining techniques from generative models with spatial data to generate new insights and predictions about physical spaces and flows.
The subproject’s focus is on three key objectives:
(i) Filling data gaps to provide comprehensive, unbiased information about cities;
(ii) Estimating flow data in new locations to provide accurate flow data estimations, even in locations lacking historical flow data; and
(iii) Predicting evolution of flow data to simulate how these flows will evolve in the future, enabling better decision-making and planning.
This subproject will lay the foundation for a collective human-machine intelligence assisting city governance and citizens to better understand their cities.
