![]() ![]() A home of one’s own “out in the country” became the affordable alternative to renting a city apartment. Relatively low land prices on the fringes of the conurbations made free-standing and terraced houses affordable to a wider circle of people in work. New suburban railway and motorway links reduced travel times and boosted the attractiveness of residential areas further afield from the workplace. ![]() A geographical gap therefore arose between working and living, which was bridged by marked expansion of the transport infrastructure. Industrial and commercial zones were strictly segregated from residential zones. Although annual net immigration has been declining since 2013, statistics from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) indicate that, on balance, migration among the permanent foreign resident population nonetheless reached over 51,400 people in 2017.ĭifferentiation of construction zones by their respective uses was introduced around a century ago, which has proved to be space-consuming and distorting. The most important factor is population growth, which has been significantly influenced by immigration in recent years. The canton of Zug expects a federally approved outline plan to be in place by the end of 2018. As at the end of March 2018, outline plans had been approved for 11 cantons including Aargau, Bern, Lucerne and Zurich. Implementation of RPG I rests on outline plans that the cantons are required to draw up and submit for federal approval. One use for the tax revenue thus raised is compensation for landholders whose plots are zoned out. Cantons must levy a value-added tax of at least 20 per cent on land newly allocated to the construction zone. Municipalities with construction zones that are too large must reduce their size. The Swiss landlords association (HEV) summarises the most important changes in RPG I as follows: The size of construction zones is set to cover needs for the next 15 years and no more. The Federal Act on Spatial Planning (Raumplanungsgesetz, RPG) requires this, and has the backing of the Swiss population: the act’s first revision (RPG I) was voted in with a 62.9 per cent majority in a referendum held on 3 March 2013. They coordinate activities in this area and implement a settlement policy geared to the country’s planned development. Federal, cantonal and municipal authorities ensure this shrewd use of land, as well as demarcation between construction zones and non-built-up areas. It is precisely because the land area cannot be increased that it must be managed shrewdly. In 1985, that figure still stood at 6.0 per cent. ![]() According to the Federal Statistical Office, 7.5 per cent of Switzerland’s total area was actually populated in 2009. Most of it lies in the Swiss Mittelland between the Jura and the Alps. As mountains, lakes, forestry and agricultural zones account for about 70 per cent of the country’s territory, the area suitable for settlement is limited to about 30 per cent of that amount. Switzerland’s 41,285 square kilometres are a fixed total. Unfortunately, the area of land is not only a scarce commodity but also a finite one. Subtleties of language are not so important to the average house or apartment dwellers, whose major choice criteria are the number of rooms and the area expressed in square metres. ![]()
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