ZURICH BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Making changes

The canton of Zurich accepted a new constitution on February 27th. Among voters, 64.2% approved of the measure, which will mainly allot more power to voters at the city and cantonal levels. This includes a cut in the signatures required to pass referenda at the local level (from 5,000 to 3,000) and the cantonal level (10,000 to 6,000). The new laws will take effect on January 1st 2006.

Most of the city's big political parties supported Zurich's new constitution, except for the far-right People’s Party (SVP), an anti-immigration and anti-EU party headed by Christoph Blocher. The SVP says the new constitution will bloat the cantonal and municipal bureaucracy and add costs. Proponents counter that the new constitution will make the law more flexible. The previous cantonal constitution dates back to 1869.

A little higher

The German language has become a source of controversy, as educators in Germany and Zurich wrangle over modernising spelling in textbooks. Now Zurich's education council plans to mandate that traditional (or “high”) German be taught at all school levels (although Helvetisms, as Swiss German words are called, will be allowed). While high German has been the formal language of education in principle, in practice many schools have reverted to the much different and unwritten Swiss dialect. To the Swiss ear, the stiff formulations of standard German can sometimes be hard to decipher. Locals usually see the Swiss dialect as warmer and more personal.

The mandate will take effect this summer. It was prompted by a comparison of education in 32 industrialised countries by the Programme for International Student Assessment. That study (which also found German schools lacking) concluded that Zurich’s pupils have low standards in German-language comprehension. Zurich’s Teachers Federation has welcomed the adjustment, but it is pleading to extend these high standards to extra-curricular activities, such as sports and art. Dissent is coming from the Association for Swiss German, which wants to keep Zuerideutsch (Zurich German) in schools. They are trying to work out an effective way to fight the new rules.

Turn out the light

Banks are shying away from lending money to anyone involved with Zurich’s red-light district, around Langstrasse. UBS, Credit Suisse and the Zurich Cantonal Bank are among those that will now deny mortgage credits in the district. Legal brothels have operated around Langstrasse since 1998. But since 2001, local authorities have been cleaning up the area, making street prostitution and solicitations from brothel windows illegal. They have also been buying up brothels and converting them to housing. Officials argue that a concentration of prostitutes foments crime.

Flush

Revenue earned from police fines on cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians has apparently become a tidy sum, according to a study published in February. In the last eight years, these monies rose from SFr18m ($15.3m) to SFr61m. The town council attributes the rise to speed- and traffic-light cameras, which were first installed in 1992 and are now in place at 50 locations. Better traffic law-enforcement came from popular demands in 1995 for better road safety.

Rich living

Zurich ranks among the ten most expensive cities in the world, according to new study by the bank UBS. In a comparison of 71 international cities, Oslow ranks as the most expensive, followed by Copenhagen, Tokyo, Zurich and London. But while it is pricey to live here, high wages give residents the highest buying power. Though the highest wages are in Copenhagen (followed by Zurich), high social-security contributions and taxes curb Scandinavian buying power. When rental costs are added to the 115 goods benchmarked in the survey, London is the most expensive city in the world.

The study's results are usually stable, but dramatic changes in the currency markets shifted many cities. The dollar's devaluation has made American cities considerably cheaper—New York now ranks 12th in living costs. And a flagging currency in Hong Kong (which is pegged to the US dollar) dropped the city from the top ranks.

A sluggish airport

Though the city's trains are famously efficient, travellers are often left to curse Zurich's late airplanes. A new study vindicates such complaints, ranking the city's airport as one of Europe's most tardy. London Heathrow was the worst of 27 airports in 2004: 27.8% of takeoffs and 29.1% of landings were over 15 minutes late. Zurich's figures were close, at 26.1% and 21.8%. Helsinki was the most punctual: only 13% of arrivals and take-offs were delayed.

Airport officials say their facilities will improve. Recent efforts to co-ordinate ground logistics showed some impact; compared with 2003, take-off delays were lowered 4%. But the real blame may lie elsewhere: the association of European airport operators says delays come from bottlenecks in take-off permission from European air-traffic control.

Catch if you can

March 2005

Zurich Marathon

April 3rd 2005

All 7,000 of the starting positions for this year’s Zurich Marathon were sold out a month before the registration deadline, on January 28th. But if you are set on running, you can try buying a slot being resold through the marathon's trading service (website).

There will be thousands of spectators watching these eager masochists: the 26.2-mile course winds mostly through Zurich’s city streets. The sites along the route include Mythenquai and Bellevue; runners continue along the lake front and return to Limmatquai, Bahnhofstrasse and Paradeplatz. The course is nearly flat—perfect for fast finishes.

See the marathon's website.

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