Innovation at the Dübendorf airfield
The airfield area in Dübendorf is being developed for various uses. Among other things, a new research location is being created here with the Zurich Innovation Park. The Cantonal Council of Zurich has currently received various applications for the development of the airfield area.
The airfield area in Dübendorf is to be developed further. Among other things, a new platform for research, development and innovation is being created here with the Zurich Innovation Park. It is intended to promote cooperation and exchange between science and business – and thus support the implementation of research results in marketable products and services. According to the BAK study, the Zurich Innovation Park should create around 10,000 jobs and an annual added value of around CHF 1.9 billion.
The Zurich Innovation Park Foundation is responsible for setting up and running it. It was founded in September 2015 by the Canton of Zurich, ETH Zurich and ZKB. The canton of Zurich, the three local communities of Dübendorf, Volketswil and Wangen-Brüttisellen and the federal government are developing the area together.
The jointly developed synthesis report of the project partners forms the basis for the development of the area. This also shows how the Dübendorf airfield area should be presented overall in the future, which uses are planned and how these are spatially distributed. The area will be divided into four sub-areas:
A first area is reserved for the Zurich Innovation Park, in which research is to be carried out in particular in the areas of mobility, robotics, aviation, space travel and advanced manufacturing & materials. In the second sub-area, the innovation park and a research, test and works airfield overlap to form an aviation cluster. In the third sub-area, the uses with high security requirements – the federal base of the Air Force and the Skyguide air traffic control center – can be further developed independently. In the fourth sub-area there are further aviation infrastructures. Nature conservation also plays a central role there. A continuous circular route around the airfield will also be created for the general public.
The government council submitted three proposals to the cantonal council for further planning and implementation work. The cantonal government is requesting 97.45 million francs for the gradual development of the innovation park and 8.2 million francs for the planning of a research, test and works airfield.
The cantonal council could decide on these templates by 2023. Renovation of the existing buildings is planned from 2023. Then the first building applications should be submitted. The implementation of the first buildings could therefore start from around 2024/2025.
