The Swiss association for regional planning (VLP) celebrated its 75th anniversary on Friday. According to an article in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), this celebration was marked with a name change to Espace Suisse.
The tasks of the association, which is made up of umbrella organizations from spatial planning, engineers, private sector planning groups, cantons and the federal government, have changed with the new spatial planning law. For instance, the focus is now on inward densification of urban areas rather than developing rural areas.
With the new name Espace Suisse, the association now wants to align itself with its new tasks. For instance, for some years now, the focus has no longer been on providing legal advice with regard to zoning and re-zoning. Other fields of activity are expected to gain in importance. According to the article, this could include preliminary consultations for building development and assistance with respect to economic development of town centres. Espace Suisse would like to be a pioneer in this area.
