Economist.com Cities Guide: Zurich Briefing - November 2005

News this month

Revenge killing

Zurich’s cantonal court handed down an eight-year prison sentence to a Russian man found guilty of killing a Danish air-traffic controller, Peter Nielsen. Vitaly Kaloyev stabbed Nielsen to death at his home near Zurich last year, after blaming him for the death of his wife and two young children. All three were aboard a Russian passenger jet that collided with a DHL cargo plane over Lake Constance in July 2002.

Nielsen was employed by the Swiss air-traffic control agency Skyguide and was the only controller on duty at the time of the crash. An investigation by Germany’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, published in May 2004, found that human error had been the main cause of the crash. According to the report, Nielsen issued a warning to the two planes just 43 seconds before the collision. The crew of the Russian plane then followed Nielsen’s instructions to descend rather than heeding the on-board collision-warning system’s orders to climb. According to international aviation regulations, the on-board system should have taken priority.

Kaloyev claimed to have no memory of killing Nielsen, but acknowledged that he had committed the crime. Kaloyev’s lawyers, who had argued for a manslaughter verdict based on their client’s psychological distress, said they planned to appeal.

World class

Football fever hit Zurich in November as Switzerland’s national team earned a spot at next year’s World Cup finals in Germany. Thousands of fans took to the streets on November 16th after the Swiss team narrowly scraped through a pair of games against Turkey. The following day, about 2,000 people greeted the team at Zurich airport with a welcoming array of Swiss flags and cow-bells. Switzerland’s 62-year-old coach, Köbi Kuhn, received a personal tribute in his Zurich neighbourhood: a small area outside his front door has been unofficially renamed “Köbi Kuhn Place World Cup 2006”; official approval is expected to follow.

In Istanbul, the game was overshadowed by a post-match punch-up in the players’ tunnel. Football’s governing body, FIFA (also based in Zurich), is investigating the incident, and may ban Turkey’s team from the World Cup tournament in 2010.

Bollards up?

Zurich’s most opulent shopping street had some unwelcome visitors in November. A gang of robbers smashed a car into one of the many jewellery stores that line Bahnhofstrasse, prompting shop-keepers to criticise city authorities for failing to offer better support. Back in 2003, several stores placed boulders outside their shop-fronts after a spate of similar raids. But they were ordered to remove them the following year by Zurich’s civil-engineering department, which argued that the boulders obstructed pedestrians and blocked off emergency-access routes. As a compromise the city has suggested that shops may mount removable or retractable bollards, but shop-owners say this would be too expensive.

The general cost of life on Bahnhofstrasse was made plain in an international study of rents among the world’s most desirable shopping districts, published in late October. Bahnhofstrasse broke into Cushman & Wakefield’s top-ten list for the first time after its monthly rents rose by 47% over the past year, reaching an average of SFr383 ($293) per square metre. New York’s Fifth Avenue topped the list; shop-owners there pay just over SFr1,533 ($1,166) per square metre every month.

Heavy landing

Zurich airport could soon host the world’s largest passenger plane, with Emirates Airlines announcing plans to use the new 555-seater Airbus A380 on flights between Zurich and Dubai. A spokesman for Zurich airport confirmed that the airport is already equipped to handle the 240-tonne aircraft, though new passenger bridges will have to be built to accommodate the plane’s two floors.

The A380, which Airbus is touting as a more cost-effective alternative to the jumbo jets sold by Boeing, underwent its first test-flight for compatibility at Frankfurt airport in October. Frankfurt expects commercial flights by the end of 2006, although Zurich airport may have to wait a little longer. Noémi Déak, a spokeswoman for Emirates, said the airline plans to offer two daily flights between Zurich and Dubai from next year, but does not intend to use the A380 from the outset.

Full speed ahead

Voting on a new 30kph speed limit in the town of Bülach, in the north of the canton of Zurich, would not normally grab attention in Switzerland. (The Swiss vote as often and as casually as other Europeans tie their shoelaces.) Indeed, the topic of the vote aroused little interest outside Bülach, but its method made headlines. As part of a national trial on electronic voting the Bülachers became the first Swiss citizens to vote using mobile-phone text messages. Zurich’s cantonal justice department declared the trial a success after 1,461 of a total 3,919 votes were cast electronically–1,006 via the internet and 455 using mobile phones. Further trials are due to take place in the cantons of Zurich, Geneva and Neuchatel before the federal authorities discuss the possibility of adopting the technology nationally. Incidentally, Bülach rejected the proposed speed limit.

Catch if you can

November 2005

Christmas Lights, Christmas markets

November 23rd 2005-January 2nd 2006

Zurich's rather old-fashioned Christmas light display, which adorned Bahnhofstrasse every Christmas since 1972, will be replaced this year by a new light show, described as the “World’s Biggest Timepiece” by its creators. Matthias Kohler and Fabio Gramazio, two graduates from the city’s Federal Institute for Technology, won an international competition with their design for these monumental lights, which will increase in intensity before reaching their brightest on New Year’s Eve.

Those who prefer tradition can turn to Zurich’s Christmas markets, including the vast indoor “Christkindlimarkt” at the main train station (November 25th-December 24th), the central city market outside the Globus department store, and the old-town market in the cobbled Niederdorf district. Just outside the city, the Messe (conference centre) will be holding its annual Christmas Collectors’ fair, home to dealers of antiques and collectors’ baubles as well as a bustling flea market.

More from the Zurich cultural calendar