You can walk from the Hudson to the East River in about one hour, from the Battery in the south to Harlem in the north takes about three hours on foot. Tiring but manageable. Perhaps the founders of the city had a feeling for the rules of size or perhaps just good fortune in choosing the island. Manhattan’s spatial restriction is the prerequisite for growth in diversity. Where space is limited, functions are stacked. Overlaps, synergies, crossreferences are created, and often liveliness. Manhattan is the same size as Zurich: 87.5 square kilometres. Despite all the differences you can find things in common: a manageable size but without confinement, a high density of opportunities and events. If Zurich wants to retain its wealth of events, the city must have the courage to fold itself over, just like Manhattan has done.

Together with the BSA, werk, bauen + wohnen 2024 held the “Erstling” writing competition for the fourth time. We will be presenting the award-winning texts in this year's upcoming issues. Following Estelle Gagliardi (wbw 3 – 2025), Julien Rey (wbw 4 – 2025), and Max Seibold (wbw 9 – 2025), this is the fourth and final article in the series.