immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Urbanität

  • Majority wants less traffic in the city

    Majority wants less traffic in the city

    The Swiss want their cities to become less congested, greener and more affordable over the next 30 years. This is the result of a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute Sotomo on behalf of the express and parcel service provider DPD Switzerland in June this year. The survey is entitled ” Future image of a sustainable city“.

    According to the survey, six out of ten people would like to see more car-free zones in urban centres and almost as many (58 per cent) would like to see more trees in built-up areas and more segregated cycle paths. In return, they would accept fewer parking spaces and car lanes. 84 percent are in favour of better public transport. For connections between cities, 88 percent would like to see an expansion of the Europe-wide fast and night train network. 53 percent want motorways with more capacity.

    A clear discrepancy between young and older people can be seen in the topic of climate neutrality: while 22 to 24 percent of all age groups between 31 and over 60 consider the net zero target by 2050 to be realistic, only 12 percent of 18 to 30 year-olds believe this. At the same time, however, 87 percent of them consider this goal desirable. For all other age groups, the figure is only between 68 and 78 percent.

    A large majority is in favour of promoting affordable housing for the elderly (91 percent), including sympathisers of the FDP (88 percent) and the SVP (85 percent). 70 percent of the population want non-profit housing. Sixty-five per cent are in favour of taller buildings and 52 per cent are in favour of limiting the number of objections to building projects.

  • Hochparterre discusses long-term view of Schlieren

    Hochparterre discusses long-term view of Schlieren

    The Zurich publishing house Hochparterre has published its eponymous magazine for the month of August. Among other things, it is about the large-scale project Stadtwerdung im Zeitraffer by photographer Meret Wandeler and publicist Caspar Schärer. They have documented the structural development of the city of Schlieren in photos for 15 years, according to a media release. A book on the project has been published by Scheidegger & Spiess.

    Rahel Marti also interviewed the two about their long-term photographic observation and its usefulness for spatial planning in the publisher’s new podcast Sach & Krach.

    The new issue also deals with virtual dream landscapes that 3D artists and designers develop inspired by painting and nature. The text on these pixel paradises “seriously questions our treatment of nature”.

    The issue also takes up the Architecture Biennale in Venice. It introduces readers to African architecture, which is also championed by the architect and professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich(ETH), Mariam Issoufou Kamara, who has her say in an interview.

    Author Deborah Fehlmann looks at the Weiermatt housing estate in the Aargau municipality of Lupfig and “shows the Hüsli people the advantages of cooperative building”. And urban wanderer and architecture critic Benedikt Loderer calls for the creation of a second old town in Biel in the hospital area.

  • Symposium examines vegetation systems for heat mitigation

    Symposium examines vegetation systems for heat mitigation

    On 7 September, the Plant Use Research Group of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences(ZHAW) invites you to the next Plant Systems Symposium at the Grüental Campus in Wädenswil. Here the focus will be on sponge city measures to reduce heat, the ZHAW informs in the event announcement. Examples of such measures include root extensions under roads, planting rainwater storage tanks or plant beds as seepage basins.

    At the symposium, the focus will be on selecting the right plants. Here, many requirements are usually met with little choice, writes the ZHAW. Its experts want to give practical examples of “how vegetation systems can be used to meet the challenges of climate change”.

    In addition, they will address questions such as whether and how appropriate systems can be implemented in practice or whether nature-based solutions are superior to technical measures. Furthermore, it will be investigated whether, in addition to vegetation systems for alternating humid sites, dry sites will also have to be considered in the future.

    “The conference series is aimed at landscape architects, urban, open space, traffic and infrastructure planners, environmental engineers, tree and nature conservation officers in cities, municipalities and associations, arborists, as well as research and teaching institutions,” explains the university. Due to the limited number of places at the conference, registration is requested by 27 August at the latest.

  • The first projects of the Dietiker Smart City project have been implemented

    The first projects of the Dietiker Smart City project have been implemented

    On the evening of September 27, the population of Dietic was informed on the church square about the implementation of the Smart City project developed by the city of Dietikon and the electricity company of the Canton of Zurich ( EKZ ). The inauguration of the first sub-projects took place.

    According to the press release , there is now a charging station for electric cars on Zelgliplatz, which is available while shopping, but can also be used by residents. Electric bikes can be charged in the basement of the two-storey bike house near the train station. A camera detects free parking spaces in the Hedinger car park. Public WiFi is available to the public at the market hall. There, an air measuring station records temperature, humidity and air pollutants such as fine dust or ozone. The station is supplemented by a network of other environmental sensors distributed across the city. In winter, measuring the ground temperature warns of possible black ice.

    "Only networking and the intelligent use of data leads to added value for the population and for the administration, as one strives for in a Smart City," Jörg Haller, Head of Smart City and Public Lighting at EKZ, is quoted as saying.

    The environmental data recorded at the measuring stations should be displayed transparently, for example on monitors in the town hall. "The city's extensive data is already used today for traffic and construction planning," Mayor Roger Bachmann is quoted as saying. "The prize money from the SFOE gave us another boost," continued Bachmann.

    The Smart City project won the main prize in the Smart City Innovation Challenge of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ) at the beginning of 2021 and thus received funding of CHF 100,000.

  • Holcim and Bloomberg are looking for circular cities

    Holcim and Bloomberg are looking for circular cities

    The Zug-based building materials producer Holcim and the New York media company Bloomberg want to research together what makes cities role models for the circular economy and thus catalysts for sustainable growth. According to a press release , the two companies want to work together in this regard to identify good examples and place them in a global showcase. To this end, they announced the first Circular Cities Barometer.

    According to Holcim CEO Jan Jenisch, the circular economy is “an opportunity of our time”. “My vision for the construction industry is to build more new things out of old ones, with recycled materials in every new building.” He wants to better understand how cities can be enabled for more circular economy.

    This would require identifying key drivers that drive progress, as well as bottlenecks that need to be addressed, says Lauren Kiel, general manager for Bloomberg Green at Bloomberg Media. “By better understanding the structure of this important work, we can enable circular living for all.”

    As cities grow, they are at the forefront of the transition from a linear to a circular economy, Holcim said. Cities had the “critical mass” to make a difference with widespread access to recyclable materials. “As our world builds the equivalent of New York City every month, the construction sector has a key role to play in the shift to a circular economy.”

  • Three quarters of the population live in cities

    Three quarters of the population live in cities

    Swiss cities have experienced a “real renaissance” in recent years, according to a press release by the Swiss Association of Cities and the Federal Statistical Office on the occasion of the publication of their yearbook “ Statistics of Swiss Cities 2021 ” with the focus on “Living in the City”. In the 80s and 90s of the last century, many people moved from the city to the countryside, today three quarters of the Swiss population live in the cities again.

    Most of them are at home in three-room apartments. In contrast, the vast majority of owners in Swiss cities, at 86.5 percent, have an apartment with four or more rooms. The smaller the community, the higher the proportion of single-family homes. In the case of multi-family houses, the opposite is true: in the largest cities, they make up an average of more than 43 percent. For the remaining cities, this is less than 33 percent.

    The bigger the city, the more tenants there are. The age structure within a municipality or city is roughly the same everywhere in Switzerland. Also, only 5 percent more people are single in cities than in rural areas. A total of 31 percent of city dwellers are foreign nationals. Outside it is only 20 percent.

    In Switzerland as a whole, non-profit housing construction only accounts for 1.3 percent. In large cities, on the other hand, the average is 11.4 percent, and in the city of Zurich even 22.4 percent.

    In urban politics, the FDP (27.2 percent) and SP (20.6 percent) set the tone, followed by the CVP (15.1 percent, minus 0.2 percent compared to the previous year) and the SVP (11.4 Percent, minus 0.2 percent). The Greens gained 0.8 percent over the previous year and are now 7.7 percent.

  • Zurich and Singapore are exploring big cities

    Zurich and Singapore are exploring big cities

    The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ( ETH ) and three Singapore-based universities – the National University of Singapore , the Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore University of Technology and Design – want to jointly research how the global growth of cities can be made more sustainable. To this end, according to a press release on December 1, they launched the Future Cities Lab Global research program. It is an extension of the Future Cities Laboratory of the Singapore-ETH Center , which was successfully completed after ten years.

    This program deals with the major global challenges of increasing urbanization caused by the expansion of existing cities and the emergence of new ones. This against the background that, according to the United Nations, two thirds of the world's population will live in cities by 2050.

    “The ecological and economic advantages of densely populated cities that do not take up much space are being wiped out by the urban sprawl in the hinterland,” explains Professor Stephen Cairns, co-director of the research program and ETH architecture professor in Singapore. "The extent to which we can curb climate change in the next hundred years depends on how well these contrasting city forms are planned."

    Numerous projects are being planned, according to ETH Zurich. Those that have already started dealt with compacted green buildings and quarters, the materials for them and new technologies for the recycling of building materials. In addition, solutions for polluted and flood-prone cities and surrounding regions are sought. Possibilities for sustainable food production in cities and their surrounding areas are also being explored.

  • Swiss cities are getting smarter

    Swiss cities are getting smarter

    Thanks to digitization, networking, participation and efficiency, a smart city should contribute to a higher quality of life and more sustainability. This is how most Swiss cities explain the concept of the Smart City, according to a study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ( ZHAW).

    The ZHAW carried out the study for the first time this year and was supported by several partners. A total of 84 Swiss cities and municipalities took part. According to the results, more than half of them rate the topic of smart cities as important or very important and are actively involved in it. At the end of 2020, however, only 23 cities had a developed smart city strategy. According to the ZHAW, this number is likely to increase in the coming years. For example, a strategy is already being developed for seven cities.

    The ZHAW has examined the development of intelligent cities using nine dimensions. The cities surveyed had a total of 329 existing projects in these dimensions. Most of the projects – 98 in total – are part of the Smart Governance dimension. City apps or chatbots, for example, make it easier to access information relevant to administration. This category also includes digital building permits or the digital notification of relocation.

    There are also 76 projects in the Smart Energy and Environment dimension. Certification as an energy city was mentioned here particularly often. Many projects aim to promote renewable energies and conserve resources. But intelligent power grids and lighting systems are also in focus in several cities.

    According to the ZHAW, most smart city projects are initiated within the administration, by energy suppliers or by politics. The cities are often based on other cities at home and abroad. However, many cities would like more support overall from the federal government and the cantons.

  • Smart cities work together

    Smart cities work together

    Basel, Bern, Lugano, Lucerne, St.Gallen, Winterthur and Zurich are already working together on the next national exhibition, " NEXPO – the new Expo ". Now, within this framework, they also want to jointly develop models for future cooperation between intelligent cities, according to a media release from the canton of Basel-Stadt. Its cantonal and urban development in the presidential department is taking the lead in a first pilot project of the initiative.

    With “Smart Inter-City – our common path into the future”, the participants not only want to develop models of cooperation between so-called Smart Cities, but also to implement them. By networking the seven cities, existing synergies are to be used. The project is also open to partners from business, science and the general public.

    The pilot project is to be promoted at the respective innovation locations of the participating cities. In Basel, for example, this includes the Smart City Lab Basel , which was launched by the canton and the SBB.