How can agriculture become part of Zurich’s urban future? This question guided the joint study conducted by the Chair of Architecture of Territory together with Grün Stadt Zürich (GSZ), the City of Zürich’s public green space department. Against the backdrop of the city’s projected 25% population growth by 2040, the project explored the potential of agroecology to enrich its open landscapes, strengthen social exchange, and provide new habitat for diverse species.
The study focused on the sequence of open spaces and landscapes along Uetliberg’s eastern flank between Altstetten and Leimbach – the contact zone between forest and city, where the agricultural land borders housing estates, communal gardens, sports fields and cemeteries. The land here is predominantly owned by the City of Zurich, managed by GSZ, and leased to farmers and gardeners. With significant changes expected on GSZ’s farms in the near future due to a renewal of leases, the study came at a timely moment: the impending transformation offered a unique opportunity to develop a vision for the role of agriculture at Uetliberg’s foothills.
The research takes momentum from a broad social shift observed during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. While public enthusiasm for participatory agriculture peaked during Covid, longer-term trends – particularly ecological concerns and the desire to reconnect city life with farming – have remained strong. Zurich’s cooperative farming pioneers like Ortoloco, meh als gmües, Stadtrandacker, or the newly founded Huebhof demonstrate the potential of urban farming practices, even as they face challenges of fluctuating participation and limited space.
How might urban open spaces evolve into agroecological landscapes that bring together food production, recreation, and ecological regeneration? What forms of urban agroecology could complement the existing community-supported agriculture and community garden models? And what role should the city government play in supporting such transitions?
The project unfolded in two stages: in the autumn of 2024, a preliminary study encompassed cartographic analysis, interviews with stakeholders, and a first design brief. In the second stage in the spring of 2025, a MAS in Urban and Territorial Design (MAS-UTD) design research studio deepened these research insights and developed concrete design projects.
The exchange with Uetliberg’s stakeholders – including farmers, gardeners, housing cooperatives, GSZ staff, and others – was vital for the study. Through fieldwork, interviews, and a participatory workshop, the stakeholders contributed their perspectives. A large-scale physical model served as a tool to visualize networks, conflicts and potentials, becoming the basis for a shared conversation.
The MAS UTD participants developed design proposals for five interconnected sites along the Uetliberg flank, each with specific local conditions and potentials:
- an agroecological path connecting the landscapes and open spaces of Altstetten;
- a new Allmende bringing together local cultivators, suppliers, and the community in Albisrieden;
- a landscape of cooperative cultivation on the Friesenberg slopes;
- public agricultural terraces above Leimbach,
- and a multiplicity of agroecological “niches” in Wollishofen.
All five projects are documented in detailed online reportages on the MAS UTD’s website.
At the end of June 2025, the MAS UTD presented the collective project for Uetliberg’s agroecological change in the Dunkelhölzli greenhouses in Altstetten, with a public event, an exhibition and a large-scale model. The event brought together the GSZ team, farmers, researchers, invited guests and practitioners, highlighting the collaborative ethos of the study and resulting in lively debates, fresh insights and a sense of potential.
Looking ahead, the study has pointed to the City of Zurich’s possible new role as a catalyst linking urban agriculture with recreation, social services, slow mobility, and landscape and biodiversity strategies. The study also showed the potential of cross-institutional collaboration, with the MAS UTD’s exploratory research complementing public expertise, to create an inspiring project with a long-term outlook for the city of Zurich.
Please find further information on the MAS UTD website, the AoT chair website and below this article.
All the mentioned work and images are part of the collaborative research and design study, conducted in 2024-2025 between the Chair Architecture of Territory and Grün Stadt Zürich. From ETH the study was led by Prof. Milica Topalović, and coordinated and conducted by Alice Clarke, Nancy Couling and Jan Westerheide, in collaboration with Bernhard Koch, Anja Frost and Katharina Merkel from Grün Stadt Zürich.
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Planetary Urbanisation – Aufruf zur Tat | Agrifutures Zürich – Agrarökologisches Gestalten
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