There is little awareness about the work of spatial planners, explained Lukas Bühlmann, director of the Swiss country planning association ‘Schweizerische Vereinigung für Landesplanung’ (VLP), and Frank Argast, president of the spatial planners’ trade association ‘Fachverband Schweizer Raumplaner’ (FSU), in an article in newspaper “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.

They believe that supporting trainees is an area that has long been neglected in Switzerland. At the same time, the demand for spatial planners has grown considerably, meaning there is a huge lack of these professionals in Switzerland. Associations, universities and institutions now want to counteract this trend. To this end, they have signed a charter that commits them to supporting trainees in spatial planning.    

The revised law on spatial planning lays out why well educated trainees are urgently needed. In Switzerland, space is becoming limited, meaning that residential areas have to grow inwards. This could lead to a variety of potential problems, such as traffic and noise, which need solutions. Spatial planners have competences in many areas and are able to develop comprehensive solutions for these problems.

“Spatial planners are responsible for ensuring that residential areas and traffic and energy infrastructure are arranged sensibly over as little space as possible, and that they are interconnected and sustainable,” wrote Bühlmann und Argast. As such, they play a key role in the economy and society.