After no to motorway expansion: solutions to the traffic jam problem

Switzerland has rejected the various motorway expansion projects. The traffic jam does not disappear, on the contrary. The decision also has far-reaching consequences for the transport network away from the motorway. In St.Gallen, for example, the motorway project was combined with tunnel construction that would have freed a plagued residential area from traffic. Now the sheet metal avalanche will continue to roll through there.

How can we avoid congestion despite the growing population and increasing traffic congestion? Sibylle Wälty from the ETH Zurich Housing Forum suggests the 10-minute neighborhood as one of the alternatives.

If you say no, the traffic jam won’t go away. What other options are there for preventing traffic jams?

Sibylle Wälty: A central approach is to promote internal development. This promotes short distances and reduces the need for automobility. My evaluations of the Federal Office’s data for statistics show: The more people live within a 10-minute neighborhood, the smaller the car share in mobility. And the greater the proportion of pedestrians. Despite population growth, this caused a decline in car traffic and CO2₂-emissions.

How does your 10-minute neighborhood concept work?

Many important everyday destinations such as shopping, schools, parks, health services, leisure activities and public transport can be reached in a maximum of ten minutes on foot or even faster by bike. Workplaces are also part of the concept.

What other alternatives are there?

For the first time, intelligent traffic management that optimizes traffic flow. Secondly, promoting alternatives to cars, such as expanding cycle paths and improving public transport. Third street prices. However, the latter is not permitted due to a provision in the Federal Constitution. The approaches listed can only have a lasting effect if the structure and usage plans are adapted beforehand in order to create the basis for 10-minute neighborhoods.

Can this also be used in cities and villages?

The concept cannot be implemented everywhere. This requires a certain density of use and sufficiently good connections to public transport. For successful implementation, at least 10,000 residents are needed. The ideal ratio is two residents to one full-time employee, in this case 5,000 jobs for every 10,000 residents.

Today people are forced to move to a job further away. But hardly anyone will. Does that fit your concept?

In fact, many people cannot move at all, even if it is necessary for work. A main reason is the lack of living space in central locations with jobs. The growing difference between long existing rents and new rental prices also makes switching to a new apartment financially unattractive or even impossible. This is where 10-minute neighborhoods can be part of the solution. By creating more living space in places with high demand for housing.

People have roots, a center of life, often with a house and children, and they don’t want to leave there.

Even if family reasons, such as proximity to grandparents or other important people, make it difficult for many people to move, it still makes a difference whether you can live in a 10-minute neighborhood or not. If there were, good public transport connections could make it easier to get to work without a car.

Because of the dense neighborhoods of 10,000 people, people don’t move from their village to the city.

Probably not, but that’s not the point. Since the revision of the Spatial Planning Act in 2014, our population has increased by around 750,000 people. Switzerland will continue to grow, which means there will continue to be demand for living space. If this is not provided through densification, there will be further urban sprawl in the landscape. Also, there are young people from the villages who will fly and look for housing in cities that will be created with a 10-minute neighborhood.

But many people don’t want to live “crammed together”. Doesn’t the concept ignore people’s needs?

The fear that densification will lead to “crammed-in” living is unfounded if it is planned well. The aim is to create compact, functional neighborhoods that offer sufficient space for privacy, green spaces and quality of life. The recently published Kompass Age Report shows that in 2023 the people surveyed would prefer a quiet and cozy apartment. The ideal residential area should offer short distances. This desire remains high even in an increasingly aging society. In St.Gallen, for example, there are multi-generational housing projects, but there are too few of them everywhere.

Families in particular want space for their children. This is difficult when it comes to compression.

No, studies show that children are more independent when they can walk safely. Densification, which promotes traffic, can therefore be particularly beneficial for families and younger generations, as it offers more independence and a better quality of life.

However, density stress has been proven to lead to health problems.

In Switzerland, we are primarily familiar with density stress in connection with traffic – in traffic jams or on crowded trains. Compaction itself is not harmful to health. Rather, health problems arise from traffic noise and air pollution. It has also been proven that walking has a health-promoting effect, both physically and mentally.

Thanks to monument protection, historical cityscapes are protected. Is this possible with a densification of the inner cities?

Yes, densification does not necessarily mean that historical cityscapes have to be destroyed. There are numerous examples of how new buildings, additions and conversions can be harmoniously integrated into historic districts. This will meet the need for more living space and preserve the historic architecture. This reduces urban sprawl and promotes sustainable urban development.

Are there any examples of this?

A good example is Carouge, a district of Geneva that already has a 10-minute neighborhood. The historic city center will be preserved, while additional living space will be created in the adjacent new buildings. There are even a few high-rise buildings with 14 to 21 floors that do not overly dominate the overall appearance of the city. This proves that densification and monument protection do not have to be in contradiction to one another.

What are the biggest hurdles for the 10 Minute Neighborhood?

For the first time, the current structure plans and building regulations do not yet allow for such neighborhoods. Secondly, politicians must have the courage to incorporate these changes into spatial planning and building regulations.

Will that change?

Switzerland’s federal system may often seem sluggish and complicated, but it opens up the possibility for municipalities and cantons to act as pioneers with innovative ideas. With the Resilientsy project, we now have the first municipalities and a canton that want to enable more 10-minute neighborhoods. I hope they see this through to the end together with the people. My research and the 10-minute neighborhoods that exist today, for example in the city of Zurich near Idaplatz or in Vevey, show that 10-minute neighborhoods offer a high quality of life.