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This might have been a scene from the animated movie up there. In the foreground, a small flowered house with plastered walls, where a few birds chirp. In the background, overlooking the peaceful residence, a dizzying sea of concrete. We are not in New York or London, but in Vernier, in the heart of the Geneva conurbation, where the monumental Etang eco-district – sometimes renamed “mini-Manhattan” – is in the process of welcoming the last of its 2500 inhabitants. This complex, unique in its dimensions, is emblematic of the achievements of recent years and those to come in French-speaking Switzerland, such as the Vergers district in Meyrin, and soon the Plaines-du-Loup district in Lausanne.
