Schlieren ZH – Schlieren presented its new urban development concept on Tuesday, which sets out the planned measures for the next 10 to 25 years. Despite continued growth, Schlieren is committed to further improving quality of life.
As a part of the Limmattal region, Schlieren keenly feels the rapid growth of metropolitan Zurich. The city is now reacting to the related challenges with an urban development concept, which is guided by the principles of high-quality development and the networking of existing neighbourhoods, modes of transport and recreational spaces.
The focus in recent years was on converting former industrial areas. But many post-war neighbourhoods are also in the meantime showing their age.
To address this, eight central tasks have been defined: (1) redesigning the city core; (2) designing the city park/green centre; (3) upgrading existing rail crossings and developing new ones; (4) networking neighbourhoods with another while maintaining enough green spaces; (5) connecting the Schlieremer Berg hill and the area along the bend in the Limmat river, the two green areas bracketing the city, via paths through the city; (6) developing the area along the bend in the Limmat river into a scenic part of the city; (7) converting Bernstrasse into a city-friendly street; and (8) converting Kesslerplatz and the area around Gasometerbrücke into city entrances.
A major urban challenge for Schlieren is traffic. As this will only increase with the growing population, measures are needed to alleviate it. One measure is the light trail Limmattalbahn, which will also help reduce traffic along Zürcherstrasse and Badenerstrasse. In addition, cyclist and pedestrian infrastructure will be expanded, of which the planned bicycle route along the railway line is an important element.
Recreational and green spaces are crucial to increasing quality of life even further, and Schlieren plans to create a green network of paths that will crisscross the city and divide it into different areas. Such an open-space lattice will increase the amount of time residents spend in the city and encourage socialising.
The concept was developed by Albert Speer and Partner in Frankfurt, and the population was brought into the discussion via two participatory workshops. The new concept was presented on Tuesday by the mayor Toni Brühlmann and the city planner Barbara Meyer.
