Zurich metropolitan area with joint spatial planning
Spatial planning in Switzerland should be possible across cantonal borders in the future. With a joint spatial planning concept (Metro-ROK), eight cantons in the Zurich metropolitan area have taken a first step towards this.
The Metro-ROK was developed by the spatial planning departments of the cantons of Aargau, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Zug and Zurich. It has a time horizon up to 2030 and is not binding on the authorities. Rather, it is intended to serve as an orientation framework and as an aid for cantonal planning and for intercantonal planning coordination.
The Metro-ROK distinguishes four action areas with specific directions: the urban landscape, the intermediate landscape, the cultural landscape and the natural landscape. This takes into account the realities that exist today, shows the desired spatial planning and sets out the measures for future changes and developments, write the participating cantons in a joint media release.
The Metro-ROK makes statements on the distribution of growth as well as on the coordination of settlements, transport and landscape for all action areas. The urban landscape and the regional centers in the intermediate landscape and the cultural landscape should in principle account for 80 percent of future growth, while the intermediate landscape and the cultural landscape should account for the remaining 20 percent. However, these figures are target values, it says.
The Swiss Federal Statistical Office defines Switzerland's five metropolitan areas: in addition to Zurich, these are Basel, Bern, Geneva-Lausanne and Ticino. The Zurich metropolitan area includes the cantons of Aargau, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, St. Gallen Thurgau, Zug and Zurich. In the case of the spatial planning concept, the canton of Lucerne has also joined and is one of the eight cantons that have jointly elaborated the Metro-ROK on a technical level. (ah)
