Land Use Statistics: Interim results for western Switzerland Significant slowdown in growth of settlement and urban areas in western Switzerland

30.08.2024 - In the four western Swiss cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Fribourg, 11% of the land is currently allocated to settlement and urban areas. This means over a third more land is currently used for settlement and urban areas than at the beginning of the 1980s. However, settlement and urban area growth has been markedly slower than since the last survey in 2013 ‒ partly because instead of converting agricultural land to new settlement and urban areas, residential developments are increasingly reusing existing urban and settlement areas. These are some of the latest findings from the Land Use Statistics realised by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

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