Economist.com Cities Guide: Zurich Briefing - December 2005

News this month

All (or some) hail the chief

The election of Switzerland’s president on December 7th saw uncommon tension. Parliament elected Zurich's Moritz Leuenberger, a member of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, by 159 to 66 votes, the narrowest margin since 1998. The vote for the presidency, a largely ceremonial post which rotates between the country’s seven cabinet ministers each year, is usually a tame process. But this year, highlighting a growing rancour among Switzerland’s ministers, the conservative People's Party waged a strong campaign against Mr Leuenberger.

As minister for environment, transport, energy and communication, Mr Leuenberger has been at the centre of several contentious issues, including the search for a nuclear waste disposal site, the privatisation of state-owned companies and the continuing row over noise at Zurich airport. He has also had a series of public spats with Christoph Blocher, the head of the People’s Party and a fellow cabinet minister. But the effort to keep him from the presidency had little chance of success—the People’s Party has only 64 seats in parliament. Immediately after his election, Mr Leuenberger promised to bring back harmony to the four-party cabinet, echoing a similarly optimistic pledge made last year by his predecessor, Samuel Schmid.

Surgical squabbles

Canton Zurich’s health minister, Verena Diener, has attacked plans to move key surgical procedures from Zurich, describing the proposals as part of “an increasingly unbearable anti-Zurich behaviour.” She announced in September that Zurich would not sign an inter-cantonal agreement to create a network of small but specialised medical centres. This agreement, which is supported by most other cantons, would include moving heart-transplant operations from Zurich, undermining the city's role as a surgical hub. Ms Diener is now calling for a panel of foreign experts to examine the issue and publish a report in early spring.

Instead, Zurich’s health ministry is in favour of a “two-centre” strategy, dividing top surgeons between a base in Zurich and another in western Switzerland. This scheme would replace the proposed network plan, and is backed by cantons in eastern Switzerland. Markus Dürr, head of Switzerland’s conference of cantonal health directors, has criticised Ms Diener for caring more about Zurich’s prestige than about health-care access. Mr Dürr plans to revise the inter-cantonal agreement and present it for further discussion in May.

Yes and yes

Swiss voters have put a five-year ban on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in farming, after environmentalists and consumer groups gathered enough signatures to take the issue to the polls. The ban, which came into effect immediately after the vote on November 27th, bars the cultivation of GMO crops in Switzerland, but does not forbid importing GM food. Although privately organised votes, called “people’s initiatives”, are usually hard to win, the public came out strongly in favour of this proposal, with more than 55% of voters supporting the ban. Voters in Zurich were slightly more tentative, with 50.5% expressing their approval.

In a purely local vote, the canton of Zurich chose to retain state-funded integration courses, which teach language, maths and cultural studies to immigrant teenagers. The right-wing Swiss People’s Party had called for an end to the subsidies, but almost 60% of voters approved SFr6.15m ($4.7m) for the classes. Welcoming the outcome, Regine Aeppli, the cantonal education minister, suggested that the recent rioting by young immigrants in France may have played a part in the strong “yes” vote.

Man's best friend?

The fatal mauling of a six-year-old boy near Zurich has prompted calls to regulate fighting dogs. Three pit bulls attacked the boy in Zurich’s suburb of Oberglatt on December 1st. In response, Zurich’s regional government quickly ordered that certain aggressive breeds be banned from public areas throughout the canton, and otherwise be muzzled and on a leash at all times. The owner of the three pit bulls had already been fined for failing to control his dogs, and may be charged with negligent manslaughter.

The attack has dominated national headlines. Switzerland’s federal veterinary office has promised to introduce measures to deal with violent dogs by the end of January. The government may create a database of owners of dangerous dogs or even ban certain breeds altogether. Switzerland already has strict rules on dog ownership—regulations approved last year require all dogs to be tattooed or tagged with a microchip by the end of 2006.

Quick as a flash

Drivers in Zurich will be keeping a close watch on their speedometers, after the controversial introduction of laser-powered speed cameras. The new cameras allow police to fine anyone driving more than 3kph above the speed limit; the older, radar-powered cameras allowed a 5kph margin of error.

Safety advocates like the idea, but not everyone is thrilled. The conservative People’s Party has accused the city government of using the cameras to increase revenues under the guise of road safety—an accusation that Zurich’s mayor, Elmar Ledergerber, has flatly denied. Whether the cameras make roads safer remains to be seen, but they are certain to be effective fund-raisers, as the city predicts total annual fines to reach SFr80m ($61m). Zurich already boasts the country’s most lucrative speed camera: a device on the busy Rosengartenstrasse snagged 274,000 motorists last year, generating SFr4m.

Catch if you can

December 2005

Albert Steiner: the photographic oeuvre

Until May 21st 2006

The Swiss Foundation of Photography presents this comprehensive retrospective of Albert Steiner, an often overlooked pioneer of Swiss landscape photography. Contemporary artists have come to regard the obvious splendour of the Swiss Alps with a sense of irony or even embarrassment, but Steiner saw this landscape as sublime, an altar at which he and his camera could worship. Though his meticulous composition and fondness for tinted paper have been criticised as the stuff of postcards, the 60 works on display reveal his artistry, with powerful motifs and techniques as emotive as a fine painter’s brushstrokes.

Swiss Foundation of Photography, Grüzenstrasse 45, Winterthur. Bus no. 2 from Winterthur’s main train station (a 25-minute ride from Zurich station) to the Fotozentrum stop. Tel: +41 (0) 52 234 1030. Open: Tues-Sun, 11am-6pm (Wed until 8pm). Admission: SFr6 (concessions SFr4). For more details see the exhibit’s website.

More from the Zurich cultural calendar