Mixed-use development brings together different uses (housing, retail, offices, services, etc.) in a fairly small area. In our view, any urban development project should now be mixed-use, beginning at a neighbourhood level. In this article, we explain the challenges and the urban development concepts which can be used to develop a good mixed-use project.

Mixed-use development: why is it the future of urban development?

• Mixed-use development makes it possible to curb urban sprawl: we can no longer continue to build indefinitely, even in cities and local areas where there is constant demographic growth. Increasingly, we are moving towards an end to concrete development. So, the use of existing spaces must be optimised by reusing space and/or opting for verticalisation.
• Mixed-use development makes it possible to reduce or shorten journeys: today, in a city like Paris, 70% of the working population commutes every morning to an area covering just 10% of the city, before leaving and making the opposite journey in the evening. Mixed-use development would make it possible to mitigate this phenomenon by decentralising jobs, services, leisure activities and more. What’s more, if the development of a neighbourhood or a local area is devised to encourage soft mobility, this creates an ecolonomic (ecological + economic + human) area.
• A mixture of activities and uses creates more social diversity.

How can local areas apply mixed-use development?

Mixed-use development involves a more intensive use of space. But how can we optimise our local areas to create both a pleasant and comfortable neighbourhood and somewhere in which to live and work? Different urban development concepts and tools can serve as inspiration. Here are five that we find particularly interesting.

Urban development concept #1: the fifteen-minute city

The fifteen-minute city takes mixed-use development to its logical limits. In a fifteen-minute city, people can meet their basic needs by travelling for fifteen minutes or less. Within a fifteen-minute walk, bike ride or journey on public transport, they can find job opportunities, food shops and restaurants, schools, leisure facilities, culture and more.

Of course, this is an ideal to which to aspire. It would be difficult to apply this to non-urban areas. But a “thirty-minute local area” could be a great achievement for some less densely populated areas.

For example, Nantes has been inspired by this approach and calls itself “a city of short distances”. It has used this policy in its redevelopment of Nantes’ island. In Luxembourg, a project with a similar philosophy is being developed in Esch-sur-Alzette: Rout Lëns. Circular construction, proximity and diversity, a number of green spaces, urban agriculture projects: this new neighbourhood is exemplary. Other examples? ZIN, in the Nord neighbourhood in Brussels and Morland Mixité Capitale.

Urban development concept #2: the ergopolis

An ergopolis is a city or a local area which takes work into consideration and which integrates work into its development. In recent decades, cities have paid a great deal of attention to liveability and the development of liveable neighbourhoods. All too often, productive activity has been “driven out” of towns and cities because it has been seen as being incompatible with their liveability.

Today, we can see the effects of this shift on towns and cities:

• a lack of local jobs for low-skilled workers, caused by the virtual absence of industrial activity;
• excessive use of lorries and vans for deliveries because of a lack of dedicated space for logistics in towns and cities;
• etc.

In short, the same phenomena which are observed at a city level can also be seen at a more macro level in Europe: a rampant relocation of industry and a pronounced dependence on the outside world for raw materials and foodstuffs (not to mention energy). The Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of the war in Ukraine have painfully highlighted Europe’s Achilles’ heels.

We believe that it’s high time to relocate productive activities, other than the service economy. We want to see more projects like Ferme Abattoir in Brussels. This urban farm is built on the roof of a food market and is an excellent example of local distribution and space optimisation, if ever there was one! It should also be noted that, as its name suggests, the site houses the last traditional slaughterhouse in the city centre of a European capital. When will we see the tide turn?

Urban development concept #3: third places

Third places are another response to the desire to re-establish links between an area and the work which happens there. These spaces combine work and other aspects of community life: co-working, smart campuses, shared workshops, fab labs, self-service garages, maker spaces, cultural wastelands, public service centres and more. They are called “third places” because they’re not homes, offices or other workplaces (places which are usually completely private); instead, they’re open spaces, dedicated to meetings, collaboration and co-creation. We think that these third places will play an increasing role in the cities and local areas of the future.

Urban development concept #4: chronotopic sites

According to one study, on average, buildings in Paris are empty for 60% of the time! Why? Because, most of the time, these buildings are single-use.

A chronotopic site is a place (topos) which has different functions and uses at different times of the day (chronos = time) and/or week, month or year.

Some places have a chronotopic vocation from the start: squares which provide parking and walking areas, locations for markets and sites for festivals and other events. But this can be applied to other spaces as well. For instance:

• A supermarket car park can be used for other purposes in the evenings and on Sundays.
• A school, the buildings of which are only used for about ten hours a day, can be transformed into a meeting place, a performance or exhibition hall and more outside school hours.

Urban development concept #5: placemaking 

Placemaking is a participatory process. This approach enables users and inhabitants to reappropriate a space. Their experiences, their needs and their expectations serve as a starting point for development solutions.

This is the opposite of the “top-down” planning policies which are all too often the norm, unfortunately. Placemaking is more of a process of co-creation, based on collective intelligence.

For instance, the city of Liège adopted a placemaking policy: over the summer, in different areas around the city centre, equipment and furniture are made available to residents and visitors and activities are organised in consultation with them. As we can see, placemaking doesn’t always require significant resources. Relatively simple initiatives which are financially accessible to any city or town can have very positive effects.

Conclusion

Topophilia is the love (philia) of a place (topos). If we want to ensure that (future) users take ownership of projects and local areas, these places must have a reason to exist, a justifiable answer to the key question: why? Local marketing and storytelling play a vital role in formulating the reasons behind these places. But the secret of tomorrow’s local areas (which will spark a feeling of topophilia) is that they will be designed BY and FOR their users.