ROREP SwissLAB 2018: Switzerland 2050

SwissLAB 2018 was organised by Brugger + Partner together with ROREP, the Swiss Society for Spatial Planning and Regional Policy. This platform is designed for students, doctoral candidates, young researchers, and professionals in regional and spatial development. SwissLAB fosters the exchange of ideas on regional economic and spatial planning topics, supports knowledge transfer, and connects spatial research stakeholders. The 2018 focus was on "Switzerland 2050". In light of exponential innovation curves, the Swiss economy and society are facing significant challenges. Developments in mobility, automation, biomedicine, and entertainment are transforming how space is designed. At SwissLAB 2018, young researchers from various disciplines envisioned Switzerland's future in thirty years. Instead of traditional scenario writing, a free-form future design followed by back-casting was employed: working backward from the vision to the present. This approach explored the processes required to realise these future visions and their implications for spatial policies, planning, and the self-conception of spatial development.