Limmattal in the location poker game
Hitachi Energy is presenting the Limmat Valley with a choice of direction. A high-tech campus is to be built on a greenfield site in Wettingen, with up to 3,000 jobs and a major boost for location policy. At the same time, high-quality cultivated land is up for grabs, the settlement separation belt is coming under pressure and Würenlos is preparing for legal action.
Hitachi Energy is looking for a new headquarters in the greater Zurich area. The options are Wettingen in Aargau and Otelfingen in the canton of Zurich. The first signal is now on the table in Wettingen. The Grand Council Committee for Environment, Construction, Transport, Energy and Spatial Planning clearly supports the necessary adjustment to the structure plan in the Tägerhardächer area. The UBV voted 13 to 1 with one abstention in favor and created the planning basis for a possible campus.
Campus with great leverage
The canton of Aargau has high hopes. In the Tägerhardächer area, currently an agricultural zone with crop rotation areas and a settlement separation belt, a coherent company site for Hitachi Energy is to be created. The campus would bundle the currently scattered locations, secure around 1,000 jobs and bring up to 2,000 additional jobs to the Limmat Valley in the medium term. Wettingen stands to benefit from high tax revenues and a strong signal in the competition between locations.
Conflict over land and speed
This is where the conflict begins. The adjustment to the structure plan encroaches on high-quality agricultural land and loosens the dividing line between settlement areas and open spaces. Traffic issues, environmental pollution and spatial planning law played a central role in the commission. Several members were skeptical about the rapid pace at which adaptation was being driven forward. In the end, the expected economic benefits prevailed for the majority.
Würenlos opposes the decision
The loudest opposition comes from Würenlos. The neighboring municipality warns of a precedent in which cantonal location policy overrides central principles of spatial planning. The municipal council criticizes a consultation at cantonal level before decisive principles on traffic, development and soil protection are available. At the same time, Würenlos is preparing legal action and is considering taking the matter to the Federal Supreme Court. The focus is on the loss of crop rotation areas and additional traffic flows through the Furttal valley.
Location competition in the Limmat valley
The race with Otelfingen is running in the background. If Hitachi opts for the Zurich site, the Aargau structure plan decisions will fall away and jobs, added value and taxes will shift to the Zurich Limmat Valley. How far does a canton extend its spatial planning to keep a global corporation? And what signals does this send to other municipalities that will be negotiating similar projects on their territory in the future?
Showdown with a signal effect
At the end of June, it’s the turn of the Grand Council. It will decide whether the canton of Aargau dares to join forces politically and confirm the amendment to the structure plan despite opposition. The decision will have an impact beyond Wettingen. It shows how important crop rotation areas, settlement separation belts and development issues will be in future in the competition between locations and how the Limmat Valley intends to reconcile growth, climate and food policy.