Swiss agglomerations and cities are constantly growing – News


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Almost three quarters of the Swiss population lived in agglomerations in 2022. And there are more and more.

“The world is a village.” A statement that supposedly fits small Switzerland well. But for many, village life is only a vague memory. In recent years, many small villages have become small and large cities or agglomerations.

Almost three quarters of the Swiss population lived in one of the 52 agglomerations in 2022. 14 percent of the population lives in rural areas, on 57 percent of the country’s area. This is shown by a new survey by the Federal Statistical Office (BFS).

Three new agglomerations…

Although there are about the same number of people living in agglomerations as in the early 2010s, the number of agglomerations has grown. In the last ten years, three new agglomerations have been added: Burgdorf (BE), Mels-Sargans (SG) and Reinach (AG).

The agglomeration


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According to the Federal Statistical Office, every agglomeration has a densely populated urban center, consisting of one or more municipalities and so-called belt municipalities that are functionally connected to this center. 6.6 million people live in Switzerland’s 52 agglomerations.

Almost half of the 2,131 municipalities in Switzerland are part of an agglomeration. Eleven agglomerations cross borders.

People in Burgdorf are not surprised by this: “We have been working with our surrounding communities for a long time and use shared infrastructure. You can also be in the city within 15 minutes. “We are almost closer to Bern than some of the neighboring communities,” says Mayor Stefan Berger.

…and ten new cities

There was also an increase in cities. New include Küssnacht am Rigi (SZ), Lachen (SZ), Hochdorf (LU), Widnau (SG), Le Mont-sur-Lausanne (VD), Zuchwil (SO), Landquart (GR), Veyrier (GE), Rümlang (ZH) and Rothrist (AG) as cities.

The city


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The Federal Statistical Office defines a city by the sum of the number of inhabitants, number of employees and overnight stays.

«Rothrist, a city? That’s new to me,” says mayor Ralph Ehrismann, amazed. “We don’t even have 10,000 inhabitants.” Even if Rothrist is now considered a city by definition, it still feels like a village. “We have a lot of neighborhoods with single-family homes, we think very rurally and we know each other.”

Apart from an indoor swimming pool, Rothrist has no cultural infrastructure. “We have many clubs for this, as a village usually has.”

From rural to urban exodus


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Until the early 1990s, the trend was exactly the opposite: a little house in the countryside, a good distance from the next larger city, was considered desirable. At that time, too, many people worked in the city and the agglomeration was already the growth engine of the economy. However, the love of the country led to an exodus from the city: the baby boomers turned their backs on the city and the cities recorded a significant decline.

The city of Zurich lost a good 60,000 residents between 1970 and 1990, and Basel and Bern suffered a similar fate. At the same time, an enormous construction boom began in the agglomeration and in the countryside. The aging single-family home developments are evidence of this.

Within just a decade, house prices doubled, and concerns about uncontrolled land degradation and urban sprawl began to concern a broader public for the first time.

In the 1990s, development changed and people moved back to the city.

Even if not all cities feel like they are: For the association of cities, the BFS survey shows that cities need to make their voices heard more. “Three quarters of the population live in urban areas, but this receives too little attention in politics. Urban issues need more space in politics,” says President Anders Stokholm.

More awareness of urban challenges is needed.

The association of cities has gained in importance with its work in recent years and has also been able to set topics. But: “There needs to be more awareness of urban challenges such as dense building, population growth, mobility or noise protection.”

Example “Tempo 30”

An example of this is the discussion about 30 km/h speed limits. Cities are campaigning for more 30 km/h speed zones, but are encountering resistance in Bern. The National Council and the Council of States have accepted a proposal from National Councilor Peter Schilliger (FDP/LU) that is intended to make the introduction of the 30 km/h speed limit more difficult.

There are unconventional approaches to give cities more weight, says political scientist Rahel Freiburghaus: “On the one hand, you could Consider a so-called city seat, in which the large cities would be granted a seat in the Council of States.

This would also be possible in terms of real politics: “The cantons that are interested in a city seat could change their cantonal constitution; there is no need to change the federal constitution.”

Another approach would be to give the large cities half a class vote. “The weight of the cities would also be reflected in the federal referendums.”

Legend:

The south of Switzerland is also growing: here the city of Lugano with Lake Lugano and San Salvatore in the background.

KEYSTONE / Alessandro Della Bella

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