Zurich: Upgrading effects through the disappearance of industry, drugs and prostitution

While the Zurich stories are still in progress, we may already introduce our three cases of interest and their distinct character. As the major capital and knowledge hub in Switzerland, Zurich is not only experiencing the influx of global capital through “old money”, but also a shift towards new, younger, and more international population. The headquarters of global corporations such as Google support the dynamics in change which speed up political and planning decisions at the city and neighbourhood level.

The Zurich team investigates the neighbourhoods in transition: Zurich West, Riesbach, and Langstrasse.

Zurich West is Zurich’s former industrial area. It has a high locational quality in terms of centrality and accessibility. For four decades the Weststrasse served as the transit route through the city of Zurich; the area has recently been redeveloped with major investments in public space.

Riesbach is situated between lake and villa district. The neighbourhood is close to the CBD and has been subject to considerable upgrading processes affecting building stock as well as population.

Langstrasse is a typical innercity commercial street facing urban decay due to a lively drug scene and street prostitution. Since the political decisions to change this situation, both marginalized group dispersed into other areas setting the scene for upgrading processes in Langstrasse. Boutiques, chic restaurants and renewal of the building stock provide the arena for the new creative class.

Stay tuned, we will come back with details, soon.

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demography

Still the navel of the rich and famous?

We are in the process of preparing interesting insights on the demographic changes in our case study neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, have a look at these articles:

Heye, C. & H. Leuthold (2005) Segregation in der Stadt Winterthur und Umgebung – Bevölkerungsverteilung 1990 und 2000 in der Stadt und Region Winterthur im Vergleich mit der Agglomeration Zürich. Stadt Winterthur: Stadtentwicklung.

Rérat, P., L. Lees (2011) Spatial capital, gentrification and mobility: evidence from Swiss core cities. In: Transactions TOC. (36) 1. 126–142.

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economy

When “new capital” displaces “old money”: A luxury problem?

We are in the process of preparing interesting insights on the economic changes in our case study neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, have a look at these articles:

Koll-Schretzenmayr, M., K. R. Kunzmann, K. Heider (2012) Zürich: Stadt der Kreativen. In: disP – The Planning Review.  44 (175). 57-72.

Heider, K. (2011) Kreativwirtschaft und Quartiersentwicklung: Strategische Ansätze zur Entwicklung kreativer Räume in der Stadt. In Frey. O & F. Koch (Hrsg.): Die Zukunft der europäischen Stadt.   VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 136-152.

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property

The power of housing change by international careerist

We are in the process of preparing interesting insights on housing market processes in our case study neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, have a look at these articles:

Craviolini, C, C. Heye & A. Odermatt (2009) Zurich’s Langstrasse Quarter in the Context of Gentrification and Urban Housing Market Processes. ENHR Conference, Prague.

Koll-Schretzenmayr, M., F. Ritterhoff, W. Siebel (2009) In Quest of the Good Urban Life: Socio-spatial Dynamics and Residential Building Stock Transformation in Zurich. In: Urban Studies. 46(13). 2731-2747.

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planning

When good old Swiss tradition needs to become innovative

We are in the process of preparing interesting insights on planning processes and new projects in our case study neighbourhoods. Meanwhile, have a look at these articles:

Dürrenberger, G., Ernste, H., Furger, F., Jaeger, C. , Steiner, D. & Truffer, B. (1991) Das Dilemma der modernen Stadt. Theoretische Überlegungen zur Stadtentwicklung – dargestellt am Beispiel Zürichs. [The Dilemma of the Modern City. Theoretical elaborations on urban development – the Zurich example.] Berlin: Springer.

Rérat, P., Söderström, O., Piguet, E., Besson, R. (2010) From urban wastelands to new-build gentrification: The case of Swiss cities. In: Population, Space and Place. 16 (5). 429-442.

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