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The city wants to buy land for a playground in an outlying area. The price: 3.5 million francs.
There are still cars in a parking lot in the Bethlehem district of Bern, between residential and industrial buildings. If the authorities have their way, it won’t stay that way for much longer.
The city wants to buy the property and turn it into a playground for the neighborhood. The land is building land. Price per square meter: 1,580 francs.
Legend:
The city of Bern wants to buy this parking lot in the Bethlehem district for 3.5 million francs and convert it into a playground.
SRF
Added to the entire area, this results in a total of 3.5 million francs. This annoys politicians from the center to the right. They are now holding a referendum against “the most expensive playground in the world,” as they call it.
Just the property costs 3.5 million, not including the playground.
3.5 million francs for a piece of land – that doesn’t even include the installations for the playground and meeting area, says Michael Rufener, Bern GLP city councilor: “If we weigh that up against the poor financial situation in which the city of Bern finds itself, it’s possible simply not.”
The opposition is not only offended by the price of the purchase, but also by the purpose. If the city is going to buy building land, it should build apartments.
“The city always likes to tout that it is committed to providing housing for everyone. But here they are simply wasting the building land,” says SVP city councilor Janosch Weyermann.
We invest in the children here. An investment that will pay off.
The city government doesn’t think the purchase is a waste of money at all: “In the short and medium term we are investing in the children by creating a meeting place here,” says Michael Aebersold, the SP finance director for the city of Bern. “In addition, it remains building land. We can also build apartments in the future. The investment will pay off.” The price is not cheap, but it is justified.
It is a dilemma of urban development. Compaction is in demand, but it causes land prices to rise.
For some, the playground area is far too expensive – for others it is a sensible investment in the future. What does a real estate expert say about this?
“At first glance, that sounds like a lot of money for a playground. But if you compare the price per square meter with that for the living space that you could theoretically build there, it is relatively cheap,” says Robert Weinert, head of real estate monitoring at Wüest Partner.
But Weinert also sees a fundamental dilemma in urban development. “On the one hand, you want to build more densely, which brings with it rising land prices. On the other hand, tenants in densely populated neighborhoods are more demanding of publicly usable space in which people can retreat and relax.” And the public then has to make this space available at high prices.
Opponents of the purchase object that the city does not necessarily have to build such recreational areas. It should be left to the owners to design the space. “The owners are currently building family apartments next to the square. It is not the city of Bern’s job to build a playground in front of the private investor’s house,” says SVP city councilor Janosch Weyermann.
It is not the city’s job to build a playground for private investors.
The finance director counters: “Growth costs money. In the end, I also expect companies to help us with this. Ultimately, they also pay the taxes with which we can then make such investments. A good balance is important.”
The people of Bern will decide at the ballot box on November 19th whether the city can spend the 3.5 million francs on the playground or not.