Vivere senza auto – Le case con divieto di circolazione sono una tendenza, almeno in città | Nel Canton Zurigo l’obbligo di costruire parcheggi nei nuovi edifici potrebbe essere abolito. Ciò è in linea con una tendenza.

We live outside of the city, maybe the only car free couple with kids in our village. When we lived in the center of Zurich it was not my impression that people did not have a car. Our parking basement was filled with cars, so I wont call this a trend – yet.

Article:

>__Starting Point: One parking space per apartment: This has been the building requirement in the canton of Zurich since the 1990s. Now, in its first reading, the Cantonal Council has decided that this parking space in the Planning and Building Act (PGB) for new properties does not necessarily have to be for motor vehicles but can also be for bicycles.__

>>__Legal Basis__
Each canton regulates the parking space obligation for new buildings differently, as the VCS overview shows. Some leave the decision to the municipalities.

>__Numbers:__ In 2021, around 78 percent of Swiss households owned at least one car, and nearly one in three households (29 percent) even owned two or more cars. According to the Federal Statistical Office (BFS), these figures have remained virtually unchanged since 2015. However, in cities, over 50 percent of households are car-free, according to the VCS. That being said, only the so-called “urban elites” are truly voluntarily car-free.

>__Example:__ The city of Baden changed its Planning and Building Ordinance (BNO) over ten years ago to allow car-free construction. The first officially car-free project in the canton was developed there, close to the train station. Since 2017, around 35 people – couples and families – have been living in the 19 apartments, as Katia Röthlin, president of the housing cooperative Lägern Wohnen, which owns the apartment building, explains. “These are people who have committed to not owning a car.”

>>__Infobox: The Rules__
>>Residents of the apartment building at Gartenstrasse 14 in the heart of Baden give the cooperative the right to check with the road traffic office to confirm that no car is registered to them.

>>Additionally, tenants must fill out and sign a form every year confirming that they continue to live without a car.

>The main reason for foregoing motor vehicle parking spaces was financial: “Building a parking space costs 40,000 to 45,000 francs. This would mean rents would have been significantly higher. But in our housing cooperative, we prioritize keeping rents 10 to 15 percent below market rates. That wouldn’t have been possible if we had had to build a car garage,” Röthlin explains.

>__City:__ Röthlin is convinced that car-free or car-reduced living is becoming a trend, especially in central locations: “We have a large project in Wettingen. There, too, we see that bicycles are becoming increasingly important – along with things like car sharing or electromobility.” However, she emphasizes that Baden’s location is ideal. “Someone living in a village is more likely to need a car. I believe car-free living is not yet a topic in rural areas.”

>__Countryside:__ An example in Deitingen (SO) shows that car-free or car-reduced living is also possible in rural areas. At first glance, the surroundings of the small settlement with four buildings may not seem optimal, says mobility consultant Céline Winzeler, who accompanied the project. But a location analysis revealed that local amenities are very accessible. Here, too, all residents must forego owning a car. In return, incentives such as car sharing, attractive bicycle parking spaces, and abundant green areas preserved by reducing parking spaces are offered. However, Winzeler admits that in rural areas, legal frameworks and successful examples are still lacking.

>__Future:__ In the canton of Zurich, the Cantonal Council’s editorial committee must prepare the matter for the second reading in a few weeks. Since even the SVP and all other parties agreed that the PGB needs to be adapted to mobility needs, it is highly likely that the entire canton will soon adopt a modern solution to meet the growing demand for car-reduced or car-free living, whether in the city or the countryside.

I live in old building in Wiedikon and out of 10 apartments only one has a car.