Swiss Association of Cities

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Swiss Association of Cities
logo
founding 1897

place Bern
president Kurt Fluri, Mayor of Solothurn
Directory Renate Amstutz
Members 133 cities and municipalities
Website staedteverband.ch

The Swiss Association of Cities (Fr .: Union des villes suisses , It .: Unione delle città svizzere ) is a service and interest group that represents the interests of cities and urban communities in Switzerland .

In addition to representing interests vis-à-vis politics , the media and the general public, the Swiss Association of Cities advises its 132 member cities, conducts training and further education, promotes the exchange of experience among its members and publishes studies, guidelines and recommendations. The association publishes the “Statistics of Swiss Cities” every year. The office is located in Bern . The current President is Kurt Fluri, Mayor of Solothurn and National Councilor of the Canton of Solothurn .

history

The foundation goes back to an idea that was developed at the national exhibition in Geneva in 1896 and implemented a year later. In the first phase, the focus was on exchanging experiences. In the interwar years , the city association also pursued consumer protection concerns . In the middle of the 20th century, the emphasis shifted to safeguarding interests vis-à-vis the federal authorities . As early as 1940, the city association stated in a resolution: “Our position is that if the federal government abandons its principle and imposes obligations on the municipalities across the cantons, it should not forget them even if extraordinary income is to be distributed. Rather, it should oblige the cantons to pass on an appropriate contribution to their communities. "

In the course of the profound economic and social change of the last decades, the challenges to the cities as well as their importance have grown, and the association's activities have increased accordingly.

membership

The association currently has 132 members. In addition to large core cities such as Zurich and Geneva and agglomeration communities such as Meyrin and Riehen, this also includes smaller cities such as Burgdorf and St. Moritz . Generally speaking, municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants are considered cities. Municipalities with a population of 5,000 or more can become a member of the city association if they are urban (e.g. canton capital).

Furthermore, public or private law organizations of intermunicipal cooperation with their own legal personality can become members without voting rights, provided that ¾ of the municipalities in their area with over 10,000 inhabitants are members of the Swiss Association of Cities.

The following cities and municipalities are currently members (as of January 15, 2018):

  • Association of presidents of the Canton of Zurich

organization

Board

The board leads the association and represents it externally. It consists of the following members (as of January 13, 2020):

City Day

As part of its delegate assembly, the association annually organizes the so-called “City Day”. In addition to the assembly of delegates, the City Day offers a thematic program and has taken place in the following cities in recent years:

  • 2008: Lugano - "Agglomerations: Merger or Cooperation"
  • 2009: Lucerne - “Who Owns Public Space? Uses between claim and responsibility "
  • 2010: Zurich - "Mobility at its limits - new concepts for the future"
  • 2011: Peseux and Neuchâtel - "Structural change and departure"
  • 2012: Bern - "The political and economic weight of urban Switzerland"
  • 2013: St. Gallen - "Public service between aspiration and personal responsibility"
  • 2014: "Glattalstadt" - "What makes the city a city?"
  • 2015: Geneva - Lancy - "What ensures social cohesion?"
  • 2016: Schaffhausen - "The future will find the city - What will occupy and shape the cities of tomorrow"
  • 2017: Montreux - "City and Sharing Economy: Better life thanks to sharing?"
  • 2018: Solothurn - "City of Culture - Urban Culture"
  • 2019: Chur - "Structural change with potential - brings life to the city!"

network

A professional organization and a number of sections are affiliated to the association:

Organization of Municipal Infrastructure (OKI)

The Organization Communal Infrastructure (OKI) is a joint organization of the association of cities and municipalities, which is administratively affiliated to the association of cities. It deals with topics such as waste, sewage, road and property maintenance, energy and environmental protection for cities and municipalities. The municipal infrastructure organization is made up of 259 cities, municipalities, special-purpose associations , cantons and private sector sponsors. The organization was founded in 1982 and is financed through membership fees.

Sections

As independent organizations, five sections of the association deal with specific issues in their specialist area: the city initiative social policy, the conference of city security directors, the city conference culture, the city initiative education, city conference mobility and the conference of city finance directors.

Commissions

Various commissions exist within the association to form internal opinions on various topics (for example the Energy Policy Commission, the specialist group for urban and community engineers and the ZORA - Center for Public Space working group). Furthermore, the Swiss Association of Cities supports the exchange platform "City Builders".

activities

In politics, the association advocates the interests of urban space. He wants to inform the public about urban Switzerland and offer platforms for the exchange of experiences and networking among the member cities.

Political advocacy

The basis of the association's political work is Article 50 of the Federal Constitution , which obliges the federal government to pay special attention to the interests of cities and agglomerations . The city association therefore participates as a permanent partner in the consultation process of the federal government, works in expert commissions of the federal government and maintains regular contacts with the federal administration and the parliament and its commissions.

An important platform is the Tripartite Conference (TK), the continuation of the Tripartite Agglomeration Conference (TAK). Supported by the Federal Council, the Conference of Cantonal Governments (KdK) and the Association of Towns and Municipalities, the TK institutionalizes the dialogue between the state levels and develops joint positions in important political dossiers.

Together with the association, the city association oversees the parliamentary group “Local Politics”, in which members of parliament with a special interest in local issues have come together. The city association leads the secretariat of the parliamentary group. President is National Councilor Kurt Fluri , President of the City Association.

Policy areas

The association deals with topics and business from different political areas. The focus is on agglomeration policy, spatial development policy, transport policy , financial and economic policy , energy and environmental policy , social and migration policy . However, the association also expresses itself on other topics, for example in the areas of culture and education or internal security .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Victory for Ursula Wyss: Tempo 30 restriction threatens to fail. In: derbund.ch . April 5, 2019, accessed June 5, 2019 .