4–2026

Centres of the agglomeration

Municipalities in the urban agglomeration are investing in creating their identity and attempting to shake off stubborn prejudices. They are, it is sometimes maintained, monotonous and indistinguishable from one another, chaotic and devoid of attractions. What outsiders may see as a non-place often presents quite a different picture on taking a closer look: it is the locals who know best the distinctive features and the value of their residential environment — and who are also aware of what is lacking in daily life. The task for planners is to build on the existing qualities and at the same time to translate new needs into urban spaces of quality. In this approach the centres of the growing urban agglomerations acquire a special role: they -become a basis for building density, offer quality as a place to spend time, and serve the residential population as points of reference — as places that connect. They are usually also important hubs in the mobility network. But not all the residents commute away from these areas. The dormitory suburbs of the economic boom era have become workplaces, centres for cultural events and leisure activities. Strong subcentres are an expression of a peri-urban space that is increasingly emancipating itself from the core city.

In a discussion the former Geneva cantonal planner Ariane Widmer Pham argues for planning alliances that extend beyond the boundaries between different communities. This is the only way in which sufficient resources for well-planned development can be made available. The example of Effretikon shows how difficult the path to a different understanding of the urban agglomeration is. This post-war new town is making a further attempt – which this time promises to be successful — to give itself an urban centre. Geroldswil in the Limmattal shows how the idea of a centre can change over decades. A once popular centre complex with cultural and social facilities gradually decayed. The town is combatting this with housing suited to the needs of the elderly — but is this enough? In Rotkreuz the train window becomes a display window for urbanisation: a new town is growing up on either side of the railway line. On the site of a former cheese dairy a district is developing with arcaded ground floor levels that house public functions and a high residential density in the red brick towers above. Urbanist Stefan Kurath takes a critical look at the urban planning value of these gestures.