Prof. em. Dr. Bernd Scholl | Spatial Development
The Future of Spatial Development in the Limmat Valley
In the final report of the Idea Competition, Perspective for the Spatial Development of the Limmat Valley (PeRL), the participating communities, regions, cantons, Federal representatives and external experts formulated recommendations for possible orientation targets concerning settlement and urban layouts, landscapes and open spaces, mobility and transport and economy and society in the Limmat Valley, for example, with the executives of the communities and cantons, such as the platform Aargau–Zurich, or with the responsible Federal Offices, e.g. a discussion on the UVEK coordination conference.
The work done by the planning team led to a deeper collective overview of spatially relevant problems and conflicts in the Valley and spanned a broad spectrum of spatial strategies and solutions. Many of the themes are characterised by high complexity and certainly cannot be dealt with in the short term. Since then the participating communities and cantons have continued with great commitment, including ongoing cross-border planning activities, e.g. on the Limmat Valley railway, initial projects for a Limmat Valley Agglomeration Park, as well as discussions on the processing of a integrated mutual long-term perspective.
At the end of 2015, the Regional Limmat Valley Project Show was founded as an organising institution and started operating over the course of 2016. The Cantons of Zurich and Aargau, both members of the project, together with the Limmat Valley communities, cities, regions and private persons and the cooperation of the Federal Government wanted to actively design and organise the further development of the Limmat Valley including cross-border activities. The Regional Limmat Valley Project Show should initiate forward-looking projects, for example, related to settlement development, recreational facilities or infrastructures, which should be coordinated and presented in a Project Show for 2020–2025.
In cooperation with the Regional Limmat Valley Project Show, the Chair for Spatial Development has organised a three-part public event series in 2017 on the thematic focus of the future spatial development of the entire Limmat Valley. The trilogy includes events on the themes of free space, transport and settlement development.
