Building permits determine how quickly residential, commercial and energy projects become reality. In Switzerland, analog routines and digital ambitions collide. Those who invest in functioning e-processes today gain speed, transparency and political

Zurich tops the IMD Smart City Index for the seventh year running. Out of the 148 cities surveyed, Geneva ranks third. Lausanne – which was ranked 10th last year – has climbed back up to seventh place. The index measures how smart citizens consider their city to

Funding has been secured for the new building of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in Thun Nord. The city is providing an interest-free loan of 16 million Swiss francs and acting as guarantor for a federal loan of 10 million. Empa is investing 16 million,

Lucerne is just in the top third of the cantons in terms of competitiveness. But far behind in terms of innovative strength. This is set to change. The cantonal government is applying to the cantonal council for a special loan of CHF 24 million for a new foundation to provide SMEs with targeted

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) plans to establish a learning factory in the Zug Tech Cluster. If Parliament and the public give their approval, operations are set to begin in 2029. The canton and city of Zug intend to contribute 82.5 million Swiss

A former military site, 60 hectares, characterized for decades by uniforms and armaments factories. Now cutting-edge research is to move in. The city of Thun is getting serious and is advancing CHF 16 million to ensure that the new Empa building does not fail due to lack of funding. What sounds

The regional location promotion agency Limmatstadt AG is strengthening regional cooperation with a joint digital event calendar. Events in the Limmat Valley are now recorded centrally and can be accessed in one place on the Limmatstadt

The Federal Council has opened the consultation process for the 2028–2031 location promotion message. The aim is not only to reduce the administrative burden on SMEs, but also to promote their access to international markets. The federal government is making around CHF 400 million available for

Baden Regio and the Cantonal School in Wettingen carried out a joint spatial planning project. A striking finding was how important people's coexistence was when planning residential and working

The voters of St. Gallen have cleared the way for the Wil West business park. By voting yes to the sale of land to the canton of Thurgau, a key milestone has been reached. This is important for the economic future of the region, but also for more orderly settlement and transport development in the

The Federal Council has opened the consultation on the 2028-2031 Dispatch on the Promotion of Switzerland as a Business Location and is planning CHF 392 million for this purpose. The focus is on easing the digital burden on SMEs, improving export opportunities and strengthening the economies of all

CKW is planning to relocate its business units from Reussbühl to Emmen and move its headquarters from Lucerne to the Reussinsel. The new "EnergiePark Emmen" will strengthen the regional power supply, bring up to 1,000 jobs to the site and create additional added value for the municipality of

Three interdisciplinary teams have developed proposals for the future development of the new Thun Nord district. An advisory committee has used these proposals to derive key parameters for the next steps. The results of this workshop process are currently on display at Thun Town

The Gold Coast location promotion agency, newly established in November 2025 for the district of Meilen, has published its annual programme for 2026/27. The first general meeting will take place in Stäfa on 15 April.

Preparatory work for the new "Wohnen am Stadtpark" retirement home in Schlieren will begin in March. The withdrawal of two appeals in December 2025 cleared the way for this. The official ground-breaking ceremony is planned for April.

Over the next two years, the cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau and Schaffhausen will be developing planning principles for new landfills for slag from waste incineration (WIP). The aim is to ensure secure waste disposal for the next 30 years and to exploit economic and ecological

At the beginning of the year, the canton of Zurich created the Zurich Innovation Park specialist unit within the Office for Economic Affairs. It is headed by Benjamin Grimm. Its purpose is to ensure the division of tasks between the various players, coordinate cantonal projects and involve

HEIG-VD and Planair are working on an underground seasonal heat storage facility that could be operational by 2030. With their BIG4HEAT project, the university and the engineering firm for energy transition want to store the heat generated in summer for use in

In the canton of Valais, the first communal service has been launched via the online.vs.ch portal. In the pilot municipalities of Monthey, Val de Bagnes, Conthey and Visp, the confirmation of residence can now be ordered completely online. The canton and municipalities are thus implementing an

With the workshop process for the Thun North core area, a key development project in the Bernese Oberland is taking shape. Three teams have shown how a new district could be created around the future S-Bahn station, characterised by open space, identity and future

The next project on the Werkmatt Uri site is taking shape. The canton of Uri and Risa Immobilien SA with investor Marcus Weber have signed the purchase agreement for construction site 11. Construction is scheduled to start in autumn 2026 and modern office and commercial space is to be built in a

The city of Baden has joined the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA). It aims to position itself as a modern cultural and spa town with international appeal. In spring, Baden will be presenting itself alongside other EHTTA members at the ITB Berlin.

Tourism generated 198,000 overnight stays in Spiez in 2025. Overnight stays in non-hotel accommodation rose by 35 per cent to 63,000, while those in hotels fell by 2.5 per cent to 135,000. Spiez Marketing intends to tackle the associated challenges together with its

The location promoter Basel Area Business & Innovation is stepping up its activities in the canton of Jura with the InnoJura programme. It creates a direct link between start-ups and SMEs to drive forward cutting-edge technologies and industrial

The cities of Schlieren and Zurich intend to collaborate on the expansion of Schlieren Northeast. The objective is to develop an urban development concept for the 324,000 square metre site. It is located on Schlieren land, but is owned by the city of

The Lucerne Cantonal Council has approved a package of measures worth CHF 300 million per year to promote the canton as a business location. The aim is to prevent high-income taxpayers from moving away due to the OECD minimum tax. In addition, opening hours for shops at charging stations have been

With a package of measures worth CHF 300 million a year, the Cantonal Council wants to secure the quality of the location, cushion the consequences of the OECD minimum taxation and at the same time strengthen the population and companies. The focus is on innovation, availability of space and tax

The Grand Council has approved the canton of Aargau's re-entry into the Greater Zurich Area at the beginning of 2027. It is providing the location marketer with CHF 5.5 million for the first four years. It also wants to promote economic development in areas with potential with CHF 4.5

Patrik Wermelinger will take over the management of the organization from June 2026. He will bring back an expert on the Lucerne economic region who combines regional roots with international settlement experience. A signal for continuity and strategic development at the same

In Dietikon, various interest groups have formed a joint alliance called Zukunft Silbern (Future Silbern). In future, the economy, mobility, environment and nature in the Silbern municipal area will no longer be considered in isolation, but will be planned and managed