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Spatial Planning and Development in Switzerland

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Spatial Planning and Development in Switzerland An international group of experts was set up in 2006 to pur- sue the task of investigating and analysing the opportunities and limits of Swiss spatial planning. Prof. Dr. Bernd Scholl had received a commission from the Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Planning (ARE) to obtain a view of Swiss plan- ning from the outside and put together a group comprised of experts from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The group conducted four inspections in various areas of Switzerland that included discussions with spatial plan- ning experts, relevant actors and politicians. The signifi- cant future tasks of spatial planning and development in Switzerland had priority. The report has three main areas: • Suggestions for the development of spatial planning in Switzerland • Personal observations and thoughts on Swiss spatial plan- ning from the different national perspectives • Reports on the state of spatial planning in the experts’ native countries The proposals and suggestions on the themes of landscape, agglomerations, city networks and functional spaces, infra- structure, cross-border dimensions and planning in strategic surroundings receive a careful assessment that covers the current state, the potential challenges, and the suggestions of the expert group on the respective themes. One hopes these observations will add impetus to the discourse on spatial planning. SPATIAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN SWITZERLAND OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF EXPERTS SWISS FEDERAL OFFICE FOR SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT (ARE) SWITZERLAND IN DEVELOPMENT AND ETH ZURICH The publication is available in German, French, Italian and English. INSTITUTE FOR SPATIAL AND LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT ISBN 978-3-9523440-1-9 SPATIAL PLANNING PROFESSOR FOR SPATIAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IMPRESSUM COMMISSIONED BY: Swiss Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE), Bern Prof. Dr. Pierre-Alain Rumley Dr. Fritz Wegelin PREPARED BY: ETH Zurich Institute for Spatial and Landscape Development Professor for Spatial Planning and Development Prof. Dr. Bernd Scholl INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS: Prof. Ir. Max van den Berg (NL) Gaëlle Pinson (F) Christof Schremmer (A) Prof. Thomas Sieverts (D) John Zetter (UK) ETH SUPPORT TEAM: Dr. Hany Elgendy Anja Häfliger Markus Nollert Dr. Rolf Signer ENGLISH TEXT PREPARATION: WordsWork, B. Zumbühl LAYOUT: Hilda Juez Salgado COVER DESIGN: Oswald Roth PRINTING: Merkur Druck AG, Langenthal © 2008, Institute for Spatial and Landscape Development, ETH Zurich ISBN 978-3-9523440-1-9 SPATIAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT IN SWITZERLAND OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF EXPERTS SWISS FEDERAL OFFICE FOR SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT (ARE) ETH ZURICH INSTITUTE FOR SPATIAL AND LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT PROFESSOR FOR SPATIAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS A WORD FROM THE EDITOR 4 PREFACE FROM THE CLIENT 6 PREFACE FROM THE EXPERTS 8 1| INTRODUCTION, TASKS AND PROCEDURES 10 1.1. Common understanding of the general task 10 1.2. Common understanding of the current situation 13 1.3. Central tasks 15 1.4. Structure of the report 18 2| SUGGESTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS 20 2.1. Landscape 20 2.2. Agglomerations 23 2.3. City networks and functional spaces 25 2.4. Infrastructure as a contribution to national cohesion and competitiveness 28 2.5. The transfrontier dimension 31 2.6. Planning in strategic contexts 33 2.7. Conclusions 36 3| SOME PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS APPENDIX ON SWISS SPATIAL PLANNING A1 Curricula Vitae 76 FROM THE PERSPECTIVE A2 Chronology 78 OF THE EXPERTS´ COUNTRIES 38 A3 A selection of especially relevant informa- 3.1. Christof Schremmer: Some observations tion from the experts’ interviews 81 from Austria 38 A4 References 88 3.2. Gaëlle Pinson: Some observations from France 41 3.3. Thomas Sieverts: Some observations about direct democracy in relation to Swiss spatial planning from a German point of view 45 3.4. John Zetter: Some observations from the United Kingdom 47 3.5. Max van den Berg: Some observations from the Netherlands 50 4| SPATIAL PLANNING IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE EXPERTS 54 4.1. Christof Schremmer: Spatial planning in Austria 54 4.2. Gaëlle Pinson: Spatial planning in France 60 4.3. Thomas Sieverts: New tasks for spatial planning in Germany 64 4.4. John Zetter: Spatial planning in the United Kingdom 67 4.5. Max van den Berg: Perspective on strategic planning in the Netherlands 72 4 A WORD FROM THE EDITOR The international group of experts on spatial planning and development in Switzerland are pleased with the lively in- terest their report has generated. The proposals, sugges- tions and insights of the international group of experts have been introduced and discussed at numerous regional and national events. Thus, an important goal of the report has already been achieved, namely, to enliven the discourse on questions relevant to planning. The report has also met with great interest in neighbouring countries. Special attention has been given to the fact that the independent assessments and evaluations came into being on the initiative and orders of the federal authority responsible for spatial development. Taking a look at your- self from the outside, or a serious look in the mirror, has had an predominantly positive evaluation. The positive reception has encouraged us to publish the experts’ report for a wider audience and provide an Ital- ian and an English version, in addition to the German and French editions. The work of translation has once again brought home to us the fact that no unified terminology exists for spatial planning. This not only clarifies the cultural and language boundedness of the discipline, it also explains the difficul- ties in understanding and communicating about spatial planning and development across national and language boundaries. We can hope that this report in its German, French, Italian and English editions will contribute to im- proving the cross-border exchange. 5 My sincere thanks go particularly to the translators of the original texts into the other languages: Beverly Zumbühl was responsible for the English translation and copy-edit- ing, Catherine Bachellerie for the French and Julia Otto for the Italian translation. Anja Häfliger, Markus Nollert and Hany Elgendy, employees of the Chair for Spatial Planning, were responsible for the translations into German. Rolf Signer also deserves my sincere appreciation coordi- nating the overall production process and the coordination and redaction of the translation work. The publication of the report will have fulfilled its purpose when the actors occupied with the challenging tasks of spatial planning and development find it stimulating and supportive on their way to developing good creative solu- tions. Bernd Scholl Professor for Spatial Planning and Development ETH Zurich / Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich 6 PREFACE FROM THE CLIENT In 2005, the Federal Office for Spatial Plannning (Bundes- amt für Raumentwicklung – ARE) published the “Raum- entwicklungsbericht 2005” (Spatial Development Report 2005), in which it was very critical of the state of spatial development in Switzerland, describing it, among other things, as unsustainable. Based on the reaction to this statement, the ARE decided to let a group of foreign ex- perts assess the state of Swiss spatial planning. Dr. Bernd Scholl, who had just taken on the post of Professor of Spa- tial Planning and Development at ETH Zurich and who pos- sessed proven international experience, was assigned the task of putting together an international group of experts. From the outset, the ARE made it clear that it would not intervene in the work of the expert group. In the end, no evaluation in the usual sense was possible; in order to produce an evaluation, the goals must be clear- ly defined and measurable. In the field of spatial planning, that is practically never the case. The experts decided to express their opinions supported by their own experience, various analyses, discussions, conversations and on-site in- spections. The group found that although spatial planning in Switz- erland is good, it is still in need of improvement, “good but not good enough” as the experts formulated it in the media conference held for the publication of the report. In general, Swiss spatial planning is well positioned in inter- national comparisons. However, it does not meet the high requirements of sustainable development yet. 7 The report likewise presents the view that spatial planning in Switzerland must develop further, and, in the main, the report does not concern itself with the question of wheth- er the federal government should have more authority. In these times, when new forms of governance are being sought and informal governance is increasingly more im- portant, the question of formal authority is losing mean- ing and significance. A project-oriented approach, which allows the various actors to be drawn in, is more sensible and more meaningful. The federal level should therefore increasingly function in the role of an actor, instead of its hitherto regulative and controlling role. The report also emphasises the possibilities of the Swiss city network (agglomerations) and points out that an approach must be developed in which the specific particularities of the various spaces can be taken into account. In the grow- ing international competition, the diversity and quality of the spaces will be ever more critical location factors. The report is complex, and therefore not easy reading, but it is worth a careful reading, between the lines as well. The route to take is clearly marked. Pierre-Alain Rumley Director, Federal Office for Spatial Planning, Bern 8 PREFACE FROM THE EXPERTS The idea of inviting foreign experts to study a nation’s spatial planning functions, opportunities and limitations and to provide observations, commentary and suggestions is a completely new approach. It would have been presump- tuous to expect a systematic evaluation within such a short time, however, in this case, it was more about looking at aspects that are meaningful for the future, determining the current situation in terms of the future requirements on spatial planning and spatial development and then de- veloping a future perspective from this information.
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