"Large projects are becoming more and more difficult to implement"

You are a politician and an entrepreneur. At the end of 2019 you withdrew from active politics, why?
After having been active on the cantonal council for 15 years and a total of 13 years on the municipal council, it was time to close this chapter. I wanted to make room for fresh, new employees and have more time for my family, my employees and for new projects.

As a politician, you are campaigning for a S-Bahn station in Silbern, for example, or for an elevated railway between the Niderfeld development center and the Silbern area. How important is such a transport connection for these areas?
A transport infrastructure is always important for a region. The Limmat Valley has good infrastructures, but we still have a few bottlenecks. The S-Bahn station Silbern could provide a great relief for the area Silbern-Lerzen-Stierenmatt and later also for the Niderfeld. The planned elevated railway between these areas would of course be the ultimate – especially if the Limmattalbahn were then directly connected to the new station.

Has there been any progress yet?
Unfortunately, the wheels of politics are very slow. It takes patience and tenacity. The concern of an elevated railway is deposited. It is currently also actively being used in the planning for the Niderfeld area. The S-Bahn station in Silbern is anchored in the cantonal structure plan with a high degree of urgency, but we are still biting into granite at the federal level. It is believed that the traffic problem of the bottleneck in the rail link between Zurich and Aarau must first be resolved. But we're staying on the ball.

You are the fourth generation to run the family company, J. Wiederkehr AG. How strongly is your political commitment linked to representing your own interests?
I have always deliberately excluded executive activity in order not to be confronted with accusations that I am doing politics for my sake. Of course, my political experience also helps me professionally. I know how certain mechanisms work. In this respect, my political work definitely benefits me. But I would like to use this knowledge in the interest of the common good and not to make a profit for myself and my company. I am particularly committed to the concerns of the trade and homeowners.

You are one of the three largest landowners in the Niderfeld. How did that happen?
Most of the land we own goes back at least three generations. In addition, over 30 years ago we had the idea of creating a storage space for our scaffolding company. So more plots were added – but unfortunately the idea could not be implemented, but we kept the land.

Does such a huge reserve of building land like the Niderfeld get your “building blood” going?
Not only. I am worried because I have noticed that in Switzerland and the Canton of Zurich in particular, large projects are becoming increasingly difficult to implement. Just think of the football stadium in the city of Zurich or the congress center. Large projects in particular have many hurdles to overcome. The density of regulations is now very high. Such rules were often created in the past and are not very helpful for the development of a new area. Here, too, it takes patience and persistence so that in the end something beautiful emerges on the Niderfeld.

Would you be given a free hand, what vision do you have for the Niderfeld?
I would not have done it the way it is now planned. Dietikon already has many beautiful local recreation areas. I would have invested the money to upgrade the existing local recreation areas and make better use of them. It will be a great challenge to fill the very large park in Niderfeld with life in a meaningful way.

What is the current status of the planned project?
The planning work is still in full swing. The neighborhood plan has now been submitted to the canton for review. We are eagerly awaiting your feedback. But it will still be a long and arduous road.

Are you confident that construction can start in 2028?
I don't dare to give a year. A few years ago there was still the opinion that construction would take place first in the Niderfeld and then the Limmattalbahn would come. Today it is obvious that the Limmattalbahn will travel through the area long before construction begins.

How did you experience the change in Dietikon over the past ten years?
I even go one step back: When I was in school, Dietikon was the third largest city in the canton of Zurich with around 25,000 inhabitants. Dietikon then did not develop much for many decades. In contrast, Uster practically exploded. Only in the last few years has Dietikon grown again with the development of the Limmatfeld, for example. But there is still a lot of older building fabric that should be renewed.

What will Dietikon look like in five years?
Not too much will change in five years. The Limmattalbahn will run safely. Hopefully by then we will have the traffic more or less under control and have implemented the accompanying measures for car traffic. Personally, I think it's good when change happens steadily and not in one fell swoop. What is being built today will be older again in 30 years. Therefore, in my opinion, regular constancy is better for the development of a community or city.

Why is it worth living in Dietikon?
I particularly like the local recreation areas. Even if you live in the center of Dietikon, it only takes a few minutes to get to the Limmat, which offers kilometers of walking paths. We also have the beautiful Guggenbühl forest. In contrast to other regions, the local recreation areas are not completely overcrowded.

You are a shareholder in Limmatstadt AG. What made you take this step?
I am fascinated that the Limmatstadt tries to open the focus, to see the Limmatal broader – beyond the canton's borders. She dares to take a visionary look at the region. Nobody knows what the Limmat Valley will look like in 40 or 50 years. Nevertheless, it is important that we also deal with such ideas. I think the city on the Limmat is a good platform for this.

The Limmat Valley is seen by the Canton of Zurich as a growth region. Isn't there a risk that the area will be paved too much with apartments, workplaces and streets?
I don't think this risk is very great. The settlement area is excluded from the cantonal structure plan. That cannot increase in the next 15 years. The recreational areas as well as green areas and forests are also excluded. I think we would do well if we take appropriate care of our natural spaces and carry out upgrading measures here and there.

The Limmattal is also heavily burdened with traffic infrastructures. How big is this problem today?
That is perhaps the fate of the valleys, that they are also often a connecting axis. The advantage is the good infrastructure, which makes the Limmat Valley attractive as a place to live. This is also a huge advantage for the economy, but it still harbors burdens. A certain need for infrastructure has built up. Too little has been invested here in recent years. It is important that traffic flow on the motorway. This is the only way we can prevent alternative traffic through the cities and municipalities.

What could the solution look like?
The Limmattalbahn will have a certain capacity and is certainly a good solution. But the expansion of the Zurich-Bern motorway with an additional lane, the expansion of the Limmattaler Kreuz and the expansion of the Gubrist should help to get the traffic on the motorway flowing again and to stop crawl traffic through communities. We still have to fight for Dietikon to finally get a usable bypass option – be it an above-ground road or a tunnel, as the idea was decades ago. A bypass road is provided for in the cantonal structure plan. But this is difficult to achieve because it would mostly lead through an inhabited area.

How realistic do you think it is that the public will perceive the Limmat Valley as a “Limmat City” in the coming years?
De facto Dietikon has been a city for decades, but many residents still refer to it as a village. Ultimately, it is a question of perception whether we are talking about a city or a village. For me it is important that the people in our region feel comfortable, actively contribute and help – in the associations as well as in politics. For me that is more crucial than the question of whether the Limmat Valley is a village or a city.

Her hometown is Dietikon. A city that – some say – always falls in between. Dietikon is too far from Zurich and too far from Baden and is therefore more on its own. How do you see it, does Dietikon manage to integrate into the city on the Limmat and how?
Border regions are always faced with particularly difficult challenges. In this respect, I welcome the Limmatstadt's initiative in that it looks at the region across borders and promotes cooperation beyond the cantonal borders. The Limmattal lies in two different cantons. This also brings certain chances that you can possibly benefit from the advantages of both cantons. When it comes to shopping, Dietikon has had a difficult time for decades. That will probably not change in the next few decades.

After the last large areas in Dietikon have been built over, will there still be room for major new projects?
I think there will be no additional settlement area for the next 30 years. The focus will be on the densification of the existing settlement area. This should be done as tolerably as possible for the population. The corona crisis has shown that people value enough space in their home or their own green spaces and privacy. I also see a chance here that we can do a lot better and more livable than some large, anonymous cities. ■