Switzerland needs to build more houses

Not all of Europe is experiencing demographic decline. Switzerland, which is located outside the European Union, is witnessing continuous population growth and is heading towards 9 million people, which is a large number for a small and mountainous country.

However, all this creates problems, precisely because the land is small and sometimes not very hospitable: where do we put all this population?

Some are beginning to think it is right to start building outside cities, precisely to relieve the need for new homes, especially from a forward-looking perspective. He puts it in it Evidence Teo In an interesting article:

As NZZ reports, the need for living space today is higher than ever. According to forecasts by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Switzerland will reach the threshold of 10 million inhabitants between 2034 and 2040. The task of the Confederation and the cantons is to ensure that there is a sufficient number of construction areas. But as Daniel Steffen, an economist at the University of Lucerne, points out, “reserves are unlikely to be sufficient to fully absorb the projected population growth.” Moreover, Hofer adds, “It is very easy to collect all available building spaces. This is a purely urban planning approach. “Reserves must be available in the right place.”

According to a recent report by the Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE), there are much more buildings outside construction zones than previously thought. Compared to previous surveys – the most recent of which dates back to 2019 – the number has increased by 23,000 units, to 618,000. The canton that hosts the largest number of these properties is Canton Bern (82,000), followed by Cantons Greson (33,000), St. Gallen (31,000) and Valais ( 29,000), as well as Lucerne and Ticino (both 28,000). Land construction costs are growing rapidly. In Zurich, for example, prices of up to 12,000 francs per square meter can be expected, even for small residential construction projects. This means three to four million francs for a small apartment.

So we start looking at urbanization in areas outside cities, creating new urban areas that will be the basis for expansion that seems impossible to postpone, also because real estate prices are so high. And here A Graph it Shows the evolution of Swiss real estate prices

However, the problems have not been completely solved, also because Switzerland is a very mountainous country, so construction exploitation will hinder agricultural activity in unavailable construction areas.

However, it is interesting to note that Italy and Germany have demographic problems, while Switzerland does not. Who knows why…