Theory of Location, Land Use and Land Values (LLL-Theory)

Dream and Reality in Urban Design

	Usually, urban designers consider only the aesthetic aspects of a project. The advanced-level course on LLL-Theory represents an addition to those criteria. Students learn that, in urban development, form follows function more obviously than anywhere else. The students learn to understand the basic rules of development that all towns have in common.
Gaming Simulation with Investors and Politicians.

Methods of Simulation

The most important tool of the LLL-method is the simulation of cause and effect. What happens if I build a skyscraper at point A? What happens if I refrain from building that skyscraper but instead, build a bridge over the lake from point B to point C? All modern technologies are used to assist these studies: computer simulation, mathematical optimization and prognosis, and gaming simulation. In the gaming simulation, the students play the roles of city planners, investors, politicians and residents in order to improve the structure of actual cities.

Prognosis of Growth for Old-Zurich (in front) and New-Zurich (in the back).

Cooperation with Investors and Communities

A close cooperation between investors and authorities is an essential part of this course as the following selected titles of students papers show: The project of a ‘ringrail’ in Basle and its possible effects on the city’s development. The analysis of population shifts in the region of Solothurn. The simulation of the competition between Old-Zurich and New-Zurich. An LLL-analysis of the building for the Department of Architecture at the ETH Zurich. ‘Chains of calls’ within and around downtown Zofingen. The impact of a new subway in Lausanne. Zoning and reality in Olten. The simulation of the development of the city of Berlin 1992–2010. The LLL-analysis of the land use patterns of Mexico City.