Densify yes, but not at any price

Switzerland is building upwards. In Zurich, more than ten skyscrapers are under construction or in planning, and Geneva, Bern and Basel are also changing their skylines. Economiesuisse President Christoph Mäder is calling for more high-rise buildings. But new figures show that building high does not necessarily mean building for everyone.

Mäder appeals in SonntagsBlick that high-rises are an efficient form of building and living. The question “Why shouldn’t there be more high-rise buildings in Zurich?” sounds like pragmatism. But efficiency and quality of living are not synonymous. Pointing to Hong Kong or Singapore as role models increases population, not quality of life.

What the figures really say
The Zürcher Kantonalbank has compiled a sober list. High-rise buildings over seven storeys may save land, but their residents take up more living space per capita on average than in lower buildings. As the number of floors increases, so does the proportion of small apartments with one to three rooms, attractive for wealthy singles and childless couples, but hardly affordable for families or the middle class. Just take a look at the “Sphinx” high-rise in Zurich. A one-bedroom apartment there costs CHF 3,000 per month and a fifth of the units are vacant.

Boom with flaws
There are currently over 15,500 apartments in high-rise buildings in the city of Zurich, 13,770 in Geneva and 6,800 in Bern. From the ensemble project with two 137-metre-high towers at the new football stadium to the Ried Tower in Leutschenbach and the cooperative tower in the Koch district in Altstetten. However, the ensemble project is currently on hold, with an appeal pending before the Federal Court. High-rise buildings are not only expensive, they are also legally complex.

Densifying does not mean building high-rises
The federal strategy “Settlement development inwards” shows the right way forward. 59 percent of all building permits for residential construction were recently granted on already developed plots. This also works without skyscrapers. Situational densification, adapted to the character of the neighborhood, landscape and mix of uses, creates more in the long term than prestige towers with panoramic views. Social housing does not need record heights, but smart floor plans, affordable rents and short distances.

What is needed now
Politicians must set guidelines before the market decides. High-rise buildings are legitimate where they make sense in terms of urban development and create socially mixed living space. They are not suitable as a general answer to the housing shortage. Incidentally, a majority of the Swiss population has a similar view. According to a Comparis survey from 2025, over 50 percent reject taller buildings in principle.