Master of Advanced Studies
Urban and
Territorial Design
MAS UTD
ETH ZürichEPFL
STUDIO ETH Zürich
Spring 2024

AtlasUrban Agriculture & BiodiversityAntonia Gerogianni and Diana Zarnescu

Since 1970, the biodiversity index has registered an average global decline of 69% (WWF 2022), while the rate of species extinction from ten to a hundred times higher than it had averaged over the past 10 million years (IPBES 2019). In light of the 6th mass extinction, rooted in anthropogenic processes, territorial planning is a discipline that plays a crucial role in bending the curve for biodiversity. How can we shift the focus and see the territory through the lens of the non-human as well? This atlas delves into biodiversity both as a concept and a governance tool in Switzerland and Zurich, providing an overview of species and habitats specific to Canton Zurich.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the MAS teaching staff at the ETH Zürich for all their time, effort and assistance in creating this Atlas.

Photographs and images by authors unless otherwise indicated.

The project texts were developed within the course „Critical Writing“, SS 2024, by Dr. Nancy Couling and Alice Clarke. The chapters above have been edited for consistency and accuracy by the MAS editorial team: Nancy Couling, Alice Clarke and Erzë Dinarama.

Sources

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The MAS UTD programme links the ETH Zürich Department of Architecture and EPF Lausanne School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering. It is part of the ETH Zürich D-ARCH Landscape and Urban Studies Institute (LUS) and the EPFL ENAC Habitat Research Center (HRC).

Contact: info-masutd@ethz.ch

ETH Zürich D-ARCH

Programme Director
Milica Topalović, Assoc. Professor
Chair of Architecture and Territorial Planinng

Programme Co-ordinator
Dr. Nancy Couling

EPFL ENAC

Programme Director
Paola Viganò, Professor
Habitat Research Center

Programme Co-ordinator
Dr. Tommaso Pietropolli