NewUrbES - CoCreating more-than-human urban living spaces

How can ecological design, material choices, and planning frameworks be adapted to create urban spaces that support not only human well-being, but also biodiversity and ecosystem services? The goal of NewUrbES is to restore and design more-than-human environments in cities so that nature and urban life can thrive together over the long term.

Designing More-Than-Human Cities

The NewUrbES project adopts a transdisciplinary approach that bridges ecology, design, material science, and urban planning. We believe that creating sustainable urban environments requires more than ecological data; it also requires understanding the aspirations of the people building and living in these spaces. To do this, we combine experiential and empirical methods with advanced digital technologies. We use 3D experiments and serious games to explore how urban spaces can become more-than-human living environments that support biodiversity and ecosystem services alongside human needs.

Our process is grounded in Real-World Laboratories, where we co-define challenges with stakeholders and test solutions in real urban contexts.

Lab I: Gaswerk Areal (Schlieren): A site under construction, focusing on restoring degraded ecosystems in a transforming neighborhood.

Lab II: Friesenberg (Zurich): A historic Garden City context in the Familienheim-Genossenschaft Zurich (FGZZH), focused on densification while preserving or improving high-quality habitats.