New Neighborhoods in Switzerland: When Housing Cooperatives are Changing the City. 24 Projects

A survey of cooperative housing in 21st-century Switzerland, with 24 exemplary projects in nine Swiss cities demonstrating how the cooperative model offers diverse solutions to meet the globally high demand for affordable urban housing. Today’s housing markets, especially in cities, are marked by demand vastly outstripping extremely limited supply and thus driving up rents; conflicting economic interests; and heated political debate about how to solve these problems. More than ever, cities must respond to the pressing demand for affordable housing, social diversity, and vibrant neighbourhoods. In Switzerland, housing cooperatives have become key players in this field. Sometimes as sole developers, but mostly in collaboration with public agencies and private foundations or private developers, they have become driving forces of urban renewal. New Neighborhoods in Switzerland offers a survey of cooperative building and living in Switzerland, also exploring housing cooperatives’ expanded role in urban development and local politics. Twenty-four exemplary recent projects in nine Swiss cities demonstrate how the cooperative model offers diverse solutions to meet the globally high demand for affordable urban housing. Heavily illustrated with images and plans, supplemented by interviews with and contributions by experts from the fields of architecture, urban design, and politics, this book is a source for the collaborative rethinking of the contemporary city.