Open Menu
14.08.2017

Zurich – Urban centres are growing in Switzerland, leading to conflicts with neighbouring rural areas. Sensible land use can counter this development.

Today, Switzerland consists mainly of two metropolitan areas, according to an opinion piece in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. One stretches out from Lake Geneva, the other from the cities of Zurich and Basel. And the country will become all the more urban in the years to come as the population increases. This could lead to conflicts with the undeveloped land in areas adjacent to the cities.

According to the article, there are two ways of dealing with this situation. A passive approach would lead to more regulation and blockades, whereas an active approach would be one in which the undeveloped land is no longer regarded “as something left over next to built-up areas, but rather as a multifunctional area that can take into account different requirements”. 

This “transition from next to each other to with each other” would show itself in the multiple use of mown pastures for leisure activities, for instance. “Parks could be developed out of forests next to built-up areas, which would pleasantly stand out from the widespread monotony of our forests.” But this approach would require a certain “intellectual effort”.