Urban proximity is not simply a question of distance. It is the result of planning decisions that determine how housing, services, public spaces and mobility relate to one another over time. This was one of the central conclusions of the CIPU’s programme 2025 on the 15-minute city, which explored how proximity can be translated from a guiding concept into planning practice. The redevelopment of the centre « Am Sand » in the Luxembourgish city Niederanven illustrates the someconcrete steps in this discussion. Following an extensive participation process and an urban design competition, the municipality has developed a long-term vision for its centre. The question now is how this vision will be anchored in planning instruments and gradually translated into implementation.
A centre that has grown over time
Located between the villages of Oberanven, Hostert, Senningen, Niederanven, Rameldange and Senningerberg, « Am Sand » has become the functional heart of the municipality. Schools, sports facilities, the swimming pool, Maison Relais, the music school, the CIPA care home, Les Arcades shopping centre and other public services are concentrated here, making it one of Niederanven’s most important everyday destinations.
The centre has evolved over several decades, beginning with the construction of the school complex in the late 1970s. This gradual development has created a concentration of public functions, but also a fragmented urban structure characterised by extensive parking areas, largely sealed surfaces and limited connections for pedestrians and cyclists.
At the same time, Niederanven has experienced significant population growth over the past fifteen years, increasing demand for housing and public infrastructure. According to RTL Today, the municipality has grown faster than the national average during this period. This prompted the municipality to consider how its centre could continue to support everyday life while responding to future demographic, spatial and environmental challenges.
Building a shared vision
The planning process began with residents, businesses and local organisations sharing how they experience « Am Sand » today and how they would like it to evolve in the future. Between September and December 2024, a comprehensive participation process brought together citizens, municipal representatives, local businesses and institutions through information events, neighbourhood walks and workshops. Separate workshops were organised for children and young people, ensuring that perspectives from different generations were included from the outset.
Page from the info booklet on the participatory process (source: https://www.niederanven.lu/media/d15e7de4-27c6-4d91-8a13-aee9f300df01/infobooklet-biergerpartizipatioun-masterplang-amsand.pdf)
Participants helped define the conditions for the subsequent urban design competition. Their ideas therefore informed the planning process before design work began. The discussions revolved around five broad themes: public space and urban design, diversity of uses, identity and character, mobility and accessibility, and climate and ecology. More than 100 individual ideas were collected and systematically assessed. Several priorities emerged consistently across the different participation formats: greener public spaces, safer walking and cycling connections, more mixed uses, consumption-free places to meet, improved parking management, and measures to strengthen climate resilience through shading, de-sealing and rainwater management. These findings were incorporated directly into the competition brief, ensuring that local priorities informed the proposals developed by the participating planning teams.
Translating local ambitions into urban design
Building on the participation process, Niederanven launched an urban design competition to develop a long-term vision for the site. Five interdisciplinary teams were invited to participate, each combining international planning expertise with at least one Luxembourg-based partner. Their proposals were evaluated across six equally weighted themes: urban design, diversity of uses, public space and design, climate and ecology, mobility and accessibility, and identity and character. Specialists in urban planning, mobility and climate contributed to the technical review before the jury reached its unanimous decision.
Impressions from the urban planning competition « Am Sand » (source: https://www.niederanven.lu/en/news/ficheactualites/2026-07-13/press-conference-for-the-urban-planning-ideas-competition-am-sand)
The winning proposal, developed by Dewey Müller Partnerschaft mbB together with LILL + SPARLA Landscape Architects, now forms the basis for preparing the future masterplan.
A framework for gradual transformation
The winning proposal establishes a flexible framework for the long-term evolution of the municipal centre. It is intended to guide future planning while allowing the project to develop in phases over several decades. At its heart is a sequence of interconnected public spaces – a « string of pearls » – that links existing buildings, new development areas and open spaces into a coherent whole. A continuous north-south pedestrian and cycling route forms the project’s backbone while strengthening connections to the surrounding green corridors. The concept follows the principles of a « 15-minute neighbourhood », making everyday destinations easier to reach on foot and by bicycle while maintaining access by car within a revised mobility hierarchy.
Public space is a central component of the proposal. Existing paved areas would gradually be transformed into greener, more climate-resilient environments offering shade, opportunities for recreation and spaces for informal encounters. The concept also promotes a greater mix of housing, services, education, culture and leisure activities, supporting a more vibrant centre throughout the day. The wider development areas associated with the project could eventually accommodate around 1,000 additional homes, primarily through smaller apartments and multi-family housing suited to young households and older residents.
Atmospheric view on the winning proposal by Dewey Müller Partnerschaft mbB (Luxembourg/Cologne) and LILL + SPARLA Landscape Architects (Cologne) (source: https://www.niederanven.lu/en/news/ficheactualites/2026-07-13/press-conference-for-the-urban-planning-ideas-competition-am-sand)
As with any urban design competition, however, the proposal represents one step within a longer planning process. Individual elements may evolve as the masterplan is developed and subsequently translated into statutory planning instruments.
From vision to implementation
With the competition completed, the project now enters the formal planning process. The winning proposal will function as the basis for preparing a masterplan, followed by more detailed planning work, political decision-making and implementation. The municipality envisages a gradual transformation extending towards 2050, with public infrastructure largely delivered by the municipality and much of the planned housing expected to be realised by private developers.
At this stage, however, the competition proposal remains a conceptual framework – not a binding planning document. The next phases of the project will determine how the spatial principles developed through the participation process and the competition become embedded in planning practice. Which elements will be incorporated into the masterplan? How will they be reflected in statutory planning instruments? Which aspects will be adapted as technical, financial or political considerations come into play?
How this translation from spatial vision to statutory planning will take place is now the central planning question for « Am Sand ». The project therefore illustrates a challenge that extends well beyond Niederanven: ensuring that long-term urban visions remain influential as they pass through the successive stages of planning, political decision-making and implementation.
Contact and Further Information
Commune de Niederanven (2026). Städtebaulicher Ideenwettbewerb « Am Sand » – Pressedossier / Press release: https://www.niederanven.lu/en/news/ficheactualites/2026-07-13/press-conference-for-the-urban-planning-ideas-competition-am-sand
Gemeinde Niederanven (2026). Pressekonferenz – Städtebaulicher Ideenwettbewerb « Am Sand » (presentation, 13 July 2026): https://www.niederanven.lu/en/news/ficheactualites/2026-07-13/press-conference-for-the-urban-planning-ideas-competition-am-sand
Dewey Müller Partnerschaft mbB & LILL + SPARLA Landschaftsarchitekten (2026). Zukunftsvision 2050 – Städtebaulicher Ideenwettbewerb « Am Sand »: https://www.niederanven.lu/en/news/ficheactualites/2026-07-13/press-conference-for-the-urban-planning-ideas-competition-am-sand
WW+ Architektur + Management (2025). Masterplang « Am Sand » – Auswertungsbericht Partizipationsverfahren: https://www.niederanven.lu/media/e036ccef-11b8-43cc-b9c6-7e7b5f8574df/masterplang-am-sand-auswertungsbericht.pdf
Gemeinde Niederanven (2024). Masterplang « Am Sand » – Biergerpartizipatioun / Shaping the Heart of Our Village: https://www.niederanven.lu/de/urbanismus/masterplang-am-sand
RTL Today (14 July 2026). Niederanven unveils long-term plan for new centre: https://today.rtl.lu/news/luxembourg/niederanven-unveils-long-term-plan-for-new-centre-1526073256
