Articles

The south of Luxembourg is marked by the heritage of the steel industry and mining. Large active and inactive industrial sites next to urban centres remind residents and visitors of the peak of heavy industry. Located in the south of Dudelange city centre, the Schmelz district was home to a steel mill until 2005. The …

Continue reading “NeiSchmelz in Dudelange: a large-scale industrial brownfield development”

Cities are hot spots of ecological disruption due to excessive consumption of natural resources and high pollution by inhabitants. At the same time, cities are also creative spaces where existing models and rules are challenged, and alternatives are developed and tested. ‘Eco-districts’ and ‘eco-villages’ are new approaches and concepts that are being tested in urban areas. With principles such as ‘zero-waste’ and the circular economy becoming increasingly popular, these initiatives currently experience a renaissance with great interest of the public, decision-makers and urban planners.

In 2013 there were some 995 hectares of vacant building land in Luxembourg which are classified as ‘Baulücken’. They are connected to infrastructure such as electricity and waste water. In principle, they are immediately available for construction and thus can tackle short- and intermediate-term needs for housing. To stimulate the use of these plots, the state has initiated the so-called ‘Baulückenprogramm’ (vacant lot identification and mobilisation programme). In Dudelange, the first project under the national programme is now underway.

Production and consumption in today’s food systems are spatially separated with transport often being long and resource-intensive. Bringing production closer to consumers can help reduce the environmental impact of food production. In Luxembourg, agricultural land is under pressure. To safeguard the ecosystem and biodiversity more and more agricultural areas are under environmental protection. In addition, …

Continue reading “National Urban Farming Strategy: a strategy to boost urban farming activities in Luxembourg”

Conventions are contractual agreements that foster cooperation between municipalities and the State in Luxembourg. Conventions can cover a multitude of topics in the field of spatial planning and urban development.

About 30% of land in the city of Luxembourg is owned by the municipality. Only about 246 of the publicly owned 1 600 hectares are classified in the local land use plan as building land, being connected to infrastructure and available for construction. With continuously increasing pressure on the housing market, the municipality is creating …

Continue reading “Luxembourg City “Baulückenprogramm”: a city taking action against vacant lots”

Fonds du Logement is the national fund for housing. It was established in 1979 and acts as a residential development company for Luxembourg. Rationale for action Housing prices in Luxembourg have increased steadily over the past 20 years. Among other reasons this is caused by a mismatch in supply and demand. High demand and limited …

Continue reading “Fonds du Logement: a public agency as residential development company”

Public administrations are usually more reluctant to adopt processes based on new and innovative technologies than private actors. This is because these processes can have shortcomings or pitfalls that are not immediately apparent. Also, new processes can raise new questions and challenges for public decision-makers such as data security and protection against hacking. Public actors …

Continue reading “Géoportail: An online platform for geographic information”

LENOZ (Luxembourgish: ‘Lëtzebuerger Nohaltegkeets Zertifizéierung fir Wunngebaier’, English: Luxembourg residential building sustainability certification) was introduced in 2016. Through LENOZ, the Ministry of Housing is following the recent trend of establishing sustainability certification systems for buildings and building techniques. LENOZ targets official and comparable certification of good practices, to make them more popular. At the same …

Continue reading “LENOZ – A sustainability certification system for residential buildings”

In the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 2 + 3 = 1! The cities of Ettelbruck and Diekirch, both located in the North of the Grand Duchy, are not far from another. The borders of the two cities are only 2 kilometres apart. Their settlement structure and those of the three neighbouring municipalities form a nearly …

Continue reading “The “Planungshandbuch”: A planning manual from Luxembourg on how to develop high-quality urban districts”

Mondercange is the gateway to the former mining district in the industrial south of the country. As other municialities in Luxembourg, Mondercange has relatively high costs for living. The municipality has identified and implemented a special way of developing affordable housing for its residents. Rationale for action Mondercange lies in the densely populated southern part …

Continue reading “Project presentation: ‘PAP Molter’ or municipalities issuing specific implementation plans”

Nonnewisen is a development in Esch-sur-Alzette, the second biggest city of Luxembourg, in the South of the country. The development covers 30 hectares of previously agricultural and horticultural land at the northern outskirts of the municipality. Rationale for action In Esch-sur-Alzette, prices for housing increased continuously in recent years following the national trend. This has …

Continue reading “Project presentation: Developing the new urban district “Nonnewisen” in Esch-sur-Alzette”