TOD against the context in cross-border metropolis? Visions and paradoxes in the case of the Great Geneva Agglomeration

Urbanization and public transport infrastructure coordination has become one of the leading principles of sustainable urban growth and mobility transition. This paper proposes a critical reflection on the implementation of the Transit-Oriented Development model in asymmetrical and interdepend cross-border metropolitan regions. Using the Great Geneva as the main research case, this contribution highlights the ecological but also social risks which this intrinsically selective and hierarchic model bears. By looking at the evolution of planning vision as well as policies and mechanisms that shaped the urban structure of the metropolis, this analysis showcases the need to take a step back to understand the current territorial paradoxes systemically and to search for hybrid strategies through a more contextual socio-spatial reading.