Economist.com Cities Guide: Zurich Briefing - August 2005

News this month

Life or death decisions

A government committee has advised that Switzerland’s laws on assisted suicide should remain largely in place. The laws allow the terminally ill to be helped to end their own lives, but active euthanasia—where a doctor administers a fatal drug—is illegal. The Swiss parliament is considering clarifying this legislation and asked the national committee on medical ethics to produce a report. The committee can significantly influence decisions, but it has no legal authority.

Some aspects of the law are not under debate: it forbids coercion, ulterior motives, or assistance for the mentally ill or suicidal. But other issues, such as the rights of terminally ill adolescents, are being debated in parliament. While holding that euthanasia should not become customary and that each case must be evaluated independently, the committee prioritised the needs of the terminally ill. It also reaffirmed the country's policy of extending assisted-suicide protection to foreign visitors, and of monitoring groups that offer this service. One of the leading players in what some have dubbed “suicide tourism” is Dignitas, a clinic based in Zurich.

Off the rails

The Swiss are the world’s greatest users of trains, with each citizen travelling 2,077km a year on average. But on June 22nd their famously reliable Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) failed to live up its reputation, when 200,000 passengers were stranded for four hours as the entire power supply broke down during the evening rush hour. The problem stemmed from a short-circuit north of the Alps, which then overloaded the southern part of the network. The drop in power supply then spread to the rest of the system, causing failures that were not fully resolved until 9.30am the next day. The cost of the fiasco has not yet been tallied, but will include the price of halted freight, 300 hotel rooms, some SFr3m ($2.3m) in compensation, and the bill for moving 1,000 SBB employees around the country to keep passengers informed.

In a separate development, the SBB announced that all of its trains will be non-smoking from December 11th 2005. This will be Switzerland's first visible alignment with the Europe-wide movement to ban smoking in public.

Grades for Zurich

Zurich’s businessmen are a happy bunch. At least, that is what the outcome of a recent survey seems to suggest. Some 3,000 of the city’s 27,000 businesses were asked to grade Zurich on a scale of one to six (worst to best) for its suitability as a location for businesses. The 1,200 who replied gave it an average score of 4.7. The lack of comparable studies from other cities makes it hard to assess Zurich’s place in the international ranking of business locations, but this is still a strong endorsement at the local level.

Not all the results were favourable. Firms marked the city down for its traffic, particularly during rush hour. The lack of parking aggravated 59% of respondents, and others criticised the excessive bureaucracy and the lack of direct flights, particularly to San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai and Delhi. Still, intercontinental travel in general earned a 4.9, and transport to other parts of Europe a 5, while Swiss public transport topped them both with a healthy 5.5.

Park your toddler

Only 40% of Switzerland's children can get into a state-run or private day-care nursery, leaving some 120,000 without provision. Researchers from the Swiss National Fund, a research institution, interviewed 750 families with pre-school children and found that demand far outweighs supply. Some parents are taking matters into their own hands. In Zurich, three mothers have set up their Die Parktante (literally “parking aunt”) programme. Parents can “park” their two- to five-year-olds at a supervised, fenced playground at the Bäckeranlage in Zurich 5 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings for SFr5 an hour, no reservations necessary.

The fast arm of the law

People getting out of hand in Zurich's parks this summer will find themselves quickly apprehended by police on rollerblades. The nine women and 25 men of the new skating unit (replacing officers on horseback for the summer) will zip around the lake and the city centre maintaining order. They are “good, fast and competent”, said Esther Maurer, the chief of police. So, if you see a skater with a blue flashing light on his head, mind your manners.

Catch if you can

August 2005

Lucerne Festival: “Summer”

August 11th–September 18th 2005

Every summer, the medieval town of Lucerne, some 60km (and a 50-minute train ride) south-west of Zurich hosts one of Europe’s most prestigious classical music festivals. Established in 1938, the Lucerne Festival is made up of three seasonal events, of which “Summer” is the main one. This is a chance to catch some of the world’s most talented conductors and musicians. The only snag is that you have to book tickets (and accommodation) well in advance.

Claudio Abbado opens this year’s event with his hand-picked Lucerne Festival Orchestra (a group of world-class soloists who gather specifically for this occasion). Other performers to watch out for include Sir Simon Rattle (conducting the Berlin Philharmonic), Zubin Mehta (with the Vienna Philharmonic) and Daniel Barenboim (with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).

Hirschmattstrasse 13, CH-6002 Luzern. For tickets call +41 (0)41 226 44 80 or see the website. Trains leave Zurich every half-hour for the trip to Lucerne.

More from the Zurich cultural calendar