Urdorf-Nord: From the workplace to the town in the village
In order to strengthen the economic area Urdorf-Nord in the long term and to ensure that the trade in the transferring area has the best possible framework conditions, the municipal council has drawn up a development strategy. This also provides for urban living in Urdorf-Nord.
There is a master plan for Urdorf-Nord, which aims to lead the economically and urban-planning important economic area into a modern and attractive future. The district is currently struggling with structural difficulties that have led to considerable vacancies and poor quality urban space. Although the economic area is one of the most important job areas in the Limmattal, the attractiveness of the location still has potential. Urdorf-Nord scores with its location: the economic area is ideally accessible thanks to the motorway connection, the Limmattalbahn, which is currently under construction, and the Glanzenberg S-Bahn station.
The thrust is clear: to generate a prudent structure of uses that are mutually beneficial. At the same time, Urdorf-Nord benefits from structural densification and the creation of high-quality public spaces. In addition, the development is taken into account with an optimized traffic concept – including an expansion of public and non-motorized traffic. The new economic area Urdorf-Nord – which, topographically and in terms of traffic, forms the entrance to Urdorf from the Limmat Valley – is intended to attract innovative and future-oriented companies. The proximity to the cantonal school and the Limmattalspital as well as the Schlierem biotech cluster should be particularly attractive for companies in the education and health sectors.
The coordinated master plan should convey a common development idea to the landowners. Due to the necessary adjustments in the building and zoning regulations (BZO), this will later become legally binding. The possibilities provided by the master plan have already been anchored in the cantonal structure plan. The structural densification is intended to create a district – the town within the village – with a novel, attractive character and relieve other areas of the pressure from settlement.
The plan provides for a representative zone adjacent to the canton school, in which urban living is now possible in addition to work. A slow traffic axis enhances the connection to the center of Urdorf in the south. The street in the Luberzen, which forms the pulsating artery of the new quarter, is to become a promenade. A space is planned at the Limmattalbahn stop in the Luberzen to connect the northern economic area with the surrounding quarters. The newly created north-south connection connects to the central square, which, like a hinge, guides the axis on to the Glanzenberg S-Bahn station. Bike stations will also be placed at the Limmattalbahn stops.
As part of a BZO revision, this strategy is expected to be presented to voters in 2023. By then, specific developments are already planned, on the one hand the communicative positioning of Urdorf-Nord as “the town in the village”, on the other hand forms of temporary use to upgrade public space and, as a result, above all an improvement in the quality of stay and catering. ■
