Department / Institute: Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG)
Reasons to feel confident
From bridges and tunnels to railways, Switzerland has always invested heavily in the upkeep of its infrastructure. But how does it keep everything operating safely and smoothly while also instilling confidence that nothing will go wrong? Read the full article at ETH News
David Kaufmann is New Editor-in-Chief of the disP – The Planning Review
NSL Veranstaltungsplakat Frühjahrssemester 2025
Fussverkehr. Planen – Gestalten – Dimensionieren
Den Lebensraum der Zukunft gestalten
Der ETH Master-Studiengang Raumentwicklung und Infrastruktursysteme bietet eine fundierte, interdisziplinäre Ausbildung in Stadtplanung, Mobilität und Infrastrukturmanagement. Durch die Verbindung von Theorie und Praxis entwickeln Studierende nachhaltige Lösungen für aktuelle Herausforderungen. In Kooperation mit Professorinnen, Professoren und Studierenden ist ein kurzes Video entstanden, um Studieninteressierte für diesen Fachbereich und More
FRESH: The FREight-SHopping nexus in urban outskirts and beyond
FRESH is a research project funded by DUT (Driving Urban Transition Partnership) and national funders which is focussing on shopping-related mobility behaviour and urban logistics in Dortmund, Paris, and Trondheim. This research project aims to: assess how urban planning in different settings impacts integrated personal and freight travel More
Prof. Dr. Eva Heinen | Transportation and Mobility Planning
Professor Eva Heinen is Full Professor and head of the group ‹Transportation and Mobility Planning› at ETH Zürich since June 2024. Eva Heinen’s interdisciplinary research looks at mobility and transportation at the intersection of sustainable development, transport planning, spatial planning, and health.
Stuck in the Driver’s Seat: A Conceptualisation for Understanding Car Dependence and its Determinants
Car dependence brings along many negative social and environmental externalities that policymakers and stakeholders need to consider. Nonetheless, the concept is not well defined and lacks a clear framework regarding its determinants and mechanisms, which also leads to problems in terms of its operationalisation.
disP 60/3, September 2024
Verkehr ’45: UVEK priorisiert Ausbauprojekte für Schiene und Strasse
Die Verbesserungen der Verkehrsinfrastrukturen auf Strasse und Schiene können nicht wie ursprünglich geplant umgesetzt werden. Der jüngste Ausbauschritt für die Nationalstrasse wurde von der Bevölkerung abgelehnt. Die Umsetzung des Angebotskonzepts 2035 der Bahn führt zu erheblichen Mehrkosten. Das Eidgenössische Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation (UVEK) hat More
MAS Raumentwicklung & CAS Raumentwicklung und Planungspraxis
Infoveranstaltungen MAS Raumentwicklung & CAS Raumentwicklung und Planungspraxis
Swiss-Made Insulation Board
Lime – Hemp Materials
Oxara: ETH Spin-Off For «Clean-Crete»
Zukunft der Raumentwicklung
Holz, Lehm und ein digitales Ökosystem für eine zukunftsfähige Bauwirtschaft
Die gängigen Materialien und Praktiken in der Schweizer Bauwirtschaft sind klimaschädlich, ressourcenintensiv und erzeugen viel Abfall. An der ETH Zürich sind zwei Flagship-Projekte von Innosuisse gestartet, um das Schweizer Bauwesen nachhaltig zu transformieren: Während «Swircular» das Fundament für eine zirkuläre Bauwirtschaft legt, ermöglicht «Think Earth» regeneratives Bauen mit More
E-Bike City Results & Future
Why the Rejection of the 2023 Expansion Step for the National Roads? Idea for a National Overall Mobility Concept
On November 24, the Federal Expansion Step 2023 for Road was put up for a public vote. The Expansion Step 2023 is a project programme for national roads consisting of six major projects, including the widening of the A1 highway between Bern and Nyon, as well as three More
Jubiläumsfeier ETH RAUM & Vernissage
ENHANCE Summer School: From Dystopia to Euphoria – Synergic Urban Systems Under Pressure
Developing a Unity-based Tool to Integrate Sound into Landscape Design and Evaluation
The acoustic quality of outdoor spaces is receiving increasing attention in planning and design disciplines. Yet, it is very difficult for non-experts in acoustics to include the effects of landscape changes on the so-called soundscape in their daily work. In the Innovedum project «Unity App for Soundscape Design More
Shared micromobility, perceived accessibility, and social capital
The transport infrastructure planning process in Canton Zürich. With examples of planning infrastructure in Dübendorf-Hinwil corridor
Responsiveness of Transport Infrastructure Planning Processes
Responsiveness of planning processes is the ability to meet changing societal transport needs quickly in ways that are acceptable to all stakeholders. In Switzerland, considerable traffic jams and overfilled trains indicate that planning processes could be made more responsive. As delays for travelers persist, their needs are not More
disP 60/2, June 2024
Tagung Landmanagement 2025: Klimaresilientes Wassermanagement im ländlichen Raum
Brownbag Lunch zum Thema Wissenschaftliche Politikberatung im Bereich Raumplanung
NSL Forum & Cycling Research Board: Video and Manifesto now online!
Did you miss the NSL Forum and Cycling Research Board «Digital Twins for Europe’s Future Mobility», on September 4th? The video link is now available on the event website! In addition, for a quick read and an overview of the workshops, you can download the «Collective Manifesto for More
CAS ETH in Regenerative Materials – Essentials 2025
Call for Papers: Sustainable Built Environment Conference (SBE25)
We are thrilled to announce the Sustainable Built Environment Conference (SBE25), which will be held from June 25 to 27, 2025 in Zürich. The conference topic is “Shaping Tomorrow: Systems Thinking in the Built Environment”. Releasing over 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions and consuming over 40% of More
How Ukraine can rebuild its energy system
Researchers at ETH Zurich have been working with researchers from Ukraine and Germany to investigate how to rebuild Ukraine’s destroyed energy infrastructure based on renewable energy. They have determined that solar and wind energy would quickly deliver a distributed power supply system and prevent corruption. Article at the More
Overcoming challenges in cost-benefit analysis of urban cycling infrastructure
This paper explores the challenges in conducting Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for urban cycling infrastructure. The authors discuss two key difficulties: determining the objective safety benefits and estimating the costs associated with implementing the infrastructure. To overcome these challenges, the authors conducted a study in Zürich, aiming to convert More
Cost Benefit Analysis of Cycling Infrastructure
Cost-benefit analysis is a tool frequently used in project appraisal to justify the implementation of infrastructures. Due to insufficient recorded data, the construction costs and safety benefits of urban bicycling infrastructure are difficult to estimate, weakening the appraisal and implementation of such projects. In this research, we conducted More
Equitable Urban Traffic Management Systems with Karma Congestion Pricing
Most cities do not charge for driving. Do you think that is fair? It causes externalities such as noise and pollution to residents and shops. In peak-hours of congestion, valuable life time, money, and fuel are wasted. Do you think driving in the city should be priced? Do More
“I find the entire mobility system fascinating”: An Interview with Eva Heinen
NSL Veranstaltungsplakat Herbstsemester 2024
Increasing realism in modelling energy losses in railway vehicles and their impact to energy-efficient train control
The reduction of energy consumption is an increasingly important topic of the railway system. Energy-efficient train control (EETC) is one solution, which refers to mathematically computing when to accelerate, which cruising speed to hold, how long one should coast over a suitable space, and when to brake.
Increasing Realism in Modelling Energy Losses in Railway Vehicles
Housing Precarity in Six European and North American Cities: Threatened by the Loss of a Safe, Stable, and Affordable Home
Problem, research strategy, and findings: Increasing numbers of urban dwellers face housing precarity in cities worldwide. We conceptualize housing precarity as a multidimensional phenomenon, using five different dimensions: 1) housing affordability, 2) tenure security, 3) housing satisfaction, 4) neighborhood quality, and 5) community cohesion.
Renewable energies in the field of tension between social demands
The Swiss energy system is set to undergo a significant transformation through the integration of photovoltaic (PV) and wind energy installations, as outlined in the Energy Strategy 2050. However, these installations impact public perception of the landscape and may lead to conflicts with various socio-economic or ecological interests. More
D-BAUG Urban Research Seminar
ETH RAUM Öffentliche Vorlesungsreihe
disP 60/1, March 2024
A Time-varying Shockwave Speed Model for Trajectory Reconstruction using Lagrangian and Eulerian Observations
Inference of detailed vehicle trajectories is crucial for applications such as traffic flow modeling, energy consumption estimation, and traffic flow optimization. Static sensors can provide only aggregated information, posing challenges in reconstructing individual vehicle trajectories.
Key Factors to Enhance Efficacy of 3D Digital Environments for Transformative Landscape and Urban Planning
The unprecedented expansion of digital technologies has led to a rapid increase in the development and application of 3D digital environments for landscape and urban planning in the past two decades. Considering the significant challenges in guiding human societies towards sustainability, these technologies must not only assist decision-makers More
Bicycle as a traffic mode: From microscopic cycling behavior to macroscopic bicycle flow
Cities allocate dedicated road space to bicycles in favor of active-mode road users. For urban environments with a mass bicycle volume, bicycle traffic congestion is likely to occur. Hence, a thorough understanding of bicycle traffic flow is necessary for the assessment of cycling infrastructure and the development of More
Comparative study of route choice models for cyclists
A Comprehensive Toolbox for Flood Risk Mitigation in Refugee Settlements
SPUR launches a comprehensive toolbox for flood risk mitigation in refugee settlements: www.humanitarian-risk.org. The toolbox includes a GIS tool to create flood risk maps and mitigation strategies, a compendium of flood risk mitigation measures and a participatory risk mapping methodology. We are thankful for the support of our More