Sustainable urban planning: aligning vision with action

In response to the housing and climate crises, LIST is focusing on urban regeneration and citizen participation to transform existing neighbourhoods into sustainable, inclusive and resilient spaces.

Rethinking the development of territories

The real estate market in the Greater Region is under pressure: rising prices, a housing shortage and stagnant property prices against the backdrop of a growing population. On top of this structural crisis, there is also the climate urgency, forcing us to rethink how we live, share space and design our territories.

As well as building new, more frugal neighbourhoods, transforming those that already exist has become a concrete and necessary approach. The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is working with partners to develop solutions for more sustainable territories – placing citizen dialogue at the heart of its approach.

“It’s not just about building differently, but about co-imagining living spaces that meet both residents’ aspirations and environmental challenges. Participation becomes a driver of urban innovation,” explained Sylvain Kubicki, Head of the Sustainable Urban & Built Environment group at LIST.

Regenerating neighbourhoods with and for citizens

Rehabilitation, renovation, adaptation, requalification – these are the key strategies in the urban regeneration process to which LIST actively contributes. The goal is to redesign existing neighbourhoods to make them more resource-efficient, resilient living environments that reflect residents’ needs.

This requires a detailed understanding of the area and the relevant sustainability indicators, and the active involvement of citizens. Indeed, this is the core ambition of the European REGEN project, coordinated by LIST, which aims to deliver a catalogue of urban regeneration interventions and a comprehensive evaluation framework spanning sustainability, economic viability and social impact. Aligned with EU policies, concrete actions, such as energy-efficient renovations and circular practices, are being piloted in four European cities. Citizen participation is central to the process, supported by LISER and The Impact Lab.

Tools such as digital twins, BIM (Building Information Modelling) and BEM (Building Energy Modelling) methodologies are being deployed to visualize and co-design transformation scenarios at various levels. Embracing a “frugal tech” mindset, LIST also uses simplified building models based on archetypes, co-developed with the engineering firm Schroeder & Associés. These data-driven, AI-enabled approaches simulate the thermal behaviour of buildings while reducing reliance on electronic sensors. Much like low-tech design, they maximize resources and support the energy transition.

In Beckerich, for instance, residents will soon be able to test LIST’s MUST (Managing Urban Spaces Together) tool to envision future energy-efficient and circular renovation scenarios – potentially coupled with improvements to the local district heating network.

A national label for sustainable development in Luxembourg

To guide planning decisions by both public and private stakeholders, it is essential to objectively assess what makes a neighbourhood sustainable and resilient. This is precisely the ambition of SERENE, an applied research project funded by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), which aims to create a national label to frame the development or transformation of neighbourhoods into inclusive, resilient environments. Built on a public-private partnership with LSC360 and NeoBuild, the project follows an open, co-constructive approach, anchored in the scientific neutrality of LIST.

To this end, six archetypes of neighbourhoods, ranging from new suburban developments to the regeneration of village centres, have been defined. These will serve as case studies to identify indicators tailored to the Luxembourg context, drawing on existing certifications: energy performance, circularity, health, social diversity, and more. The resulting label will ultimately provide a tool to assess urban development projects and align them with national resilience objectives.

Digital transition as a catalyst for change

Environmental and digital transitions must go hand in hand. Digital tools and data help measure impacts, compare scenarios and foster stakeholder engagement. However, they also require a shift in professional practices and skill sets across the construction sector enable better data exchange.

LIST is developing demonstrators based on BIM models and digital twins fed with dynamic data. These include material passports, environmental assessment tools, and tailored recommendations for occupants, which are already being tested in innovative pilot homes in Elmen and Betzdorf, in collaboration with SNHBM. These tools also support regulatory changes linked to upcoming European directives on energy performance, carbon footprint and circularity.

A shared vision for urban planning

LIST’s work aims to provide data-driven, research-based, citizen-informed decision-support tools. By combining scientific expertise, local anchoring, and user dialogue, these projects offer a new way of thinking about urban life.

In a context marked by a shortage of skilled labour in the construction sector and the increasing complexity of buildings, it is essential to develop intuitive, robust digital tools to support the transition, while at the same time addressing economic constraints. “An institute like LIST must anticipate future needs, and prototype, test, demonstrate and take risks to ultimately guide the market and contribute to societal, technological and economic transformation,” concluded Sylvain Kubicki.

Video by Paperjam