Winterthur sets priorities for an attractive interplay of living and working
Winterthur is growing, Winterthur has potential. The city has set itself the goal of using this wisely and making it fit for future generations. How does it ensure the long-term high quality of a modern city? With development and transformation in specific focus areas.
Word has spread about the high quality of life in the city of Winterthur. More and more people live, work and study here. The city in the Zurich economic region currently has over 120,000 inhabitants, around 75,000 employees, almost 11,000 university students and around 11,000 students at vocational schools. The municipal forecast predicts a population growth to around 135,000 people by 2040. Winterthur wants to use this growth as an opportunity to develop existing urban qualities by setting spatial priorities.
The majority of this development is to be driven and directed within Winterthur’s already very dynamic urban backbone (see diagram), complementing the existing settlement structure. The city is to be densified along the main traffic axes from Töss in the southwest to Oberwinterthur in the northeast and the diversity of uses is to be increased.
Densification along the urban spine
From an urban planning perspective, there are six areas with enormous growth and densification potential. The city concentrates on six priority areas along the urban spine (cf. diagram): Winterthur South, Zürcherstrasse, Main Station Urban Area, Knowledge Quarter, Grüze Plus and the surroundings of Oberwinterthur railway station. Here, more living space, new jobs, and additional recreational and cultural spaces are to be created. Attention will be paid to a high quality of supply that enables short distances and thus also contributes to net zero by 2040.
Careful development of the neighbourhoods
The existing neighbourhoods will not be forgotten – on the contrary. The spatial focus on high-quality inner development along the urban spine relieves them of the pressure of densification. Selective densification remains possible in suitable locations, so that the residential offer there can also be developed in a diverse manner and the qualities of the outdoor spaces can be improved. The objective set out in the “Spatial Development Perspective Winterthur 2040” to promote so-called “5-minute neighbourhoods” is an important concern of the city and contributes to a sustainable interplay of living, working and open space and thus to maintaining the high quality of life so highly valued today.
