Zurich

Zurich is the largest city of Switzerland with about 380’000 inhabitants. The city is the economic center of Switzerland with finance as a core business. With two important universities, Zurich is also a well known city of knowledge and science. Zurich is outstanding in Switzerland concerning inhabitants and economic impact. The surrounding municipalities are much smaller. Switzerland knows taxes on municipality-level, what implies a high level of self-government. Zurich has a very fragmented cooperation on various themes in different perimeters with its hinterland. There is neither a clear structure nor an institutionalised overall-cooperation. On the other hand there are many efficient theme-focused organisations for cooperation. The city of Zurich wants to open the range and to exchange experiences in this project with other European Cities. In this way Zurich aims to improve and strengthen the partnership and cooperation with its neighbouring municipalities and to find better organisational structures for its future cooperation with its neighbours. The cooperation shall be based on confidence, the principles of partnership and integrated development. Contact: Dr. Martin Harris