Agricultural Landscapes of Densification: The Case of Luxembourg

Ivonne Weichold

Architect, Urbanist and Doctoral Researcher
University of Luxembourg

CV

Ivonne is an architect and urbanist working in the intersection of architecture, urbanization and geospatial analysis. Her research breaks open the duality of thinking in urban and rural environments in order to investigate the role of agricultural land and production and planning in wealthy economies. She is currently a PhD researcher at the University of Luxembourg, where she is working as a lecturer in a new Master program on Architecture, European Urbanization and Globalization (www.masterarchitecture.lu). Ivonne has worked as an architect and urbanist in Belgium and Germany for over a decade.

LECTURE ABSTRACT 

Agricultural Landscapes of Densification: The Case of Luxembourg

The challenges of urbanization, the decline of arable land and the rise in climate uncertainty across the world raise concerns about food security for a booming global population. One key to this challenge is the exploration of alternative scenarios of densification in the built environment without cancelling on productive agricultural land. This talk reflects on work undertaken as part of a PhD research on the territory of Luxembourg, which is emphasized as an exemplary case because of its extreme contradiction between its economic, political and ecological performance. The study aims to explore the future of spatial development in Luxembourg through two composite “envelopes”: One for tracing optimal densification trajectories, and one for optimal allocation of agricultural land.

Further, it critically discusses a “best case” scenario for an alternative land configuration of the zoning plan and typomorphology in Luxembourg. The case study is using a multi-method approach of historical and spatial analysis, landscape suitability analysis and land-use scenarios. Contributions will be made by providing spatial planning guidance through underlining it with concrete examples from other parts of the world