Chur West, a sprawling development project on the outskirts of Chur designed to accommodate 6,500 residents and workplaces across an area the size of 23 football fields, is moving forward significantly slower than initially planned.
When the city first invited the public to help shape the vision for Chur West back in 2013, the expectations were immense. Travelers driving from Zurich over the San Bernardino pass toward southern Switzerland might spot the twin white towers standing at the city’s edge, intended to mark the gateway to a secondary urban center complete with bustling public squares and street-side cafes. Yet, 13 years after that initial public consultation process, only 170 people actually live within the designated development perimeter, while industrial sheds and automotive garages continue to define the surrounding landscape.
Untangling Complex Property Rights and Master Plans
Reflecting on the sluggish transformation, Leonie Liesch, a municipal councilor in Chur and former tourism director, noted that the initial start may have simply been “too visionary.” Transforming blueprint dreams into concrete reality requires navigating complex legal and structural hurdles. Simon Gredig, the city’s third building director since the project’s inception, acknowledged that magic cannot fix the inherent delays of urban planning. Between establishing the political will to build and securing a fully approvable construction project lies years of intricate labor.
Compounding the challenge is the city’s limited ownership of the land itself. According to the updated 2023 master plan, the municipality owns roughly a quarter of the entire development territory. However, even these parcels are largely tied up in building rights contracts granted to external third parties for predefined periods. If the municipality wishes to accelerate development on these plots prior to contract expiration, it must negotiate directly with the current rights holders. A municipal zoning plan on paper alone does not grant immediate development power.
Furthermore, a cohesive municipal vision took years to solidify. The 2023 master plan explicitly admitted that development up to that point had occurred in a manner that was “very selective and rather coincidental,” lacking a unified design framework despite an overarching area plan adopted in 2017.
Navigating Public Votes and Infrastructure Milestones
Securing political momentum has proved equally challenging for city leadership. While local voters approved a railway station upgrade in 2022, the electorate decisively rejected a proposed land swap just two years later. That failed land swap was intended to secure critical municipal acreage around the station square and simplify tangled ownership structures, demonstrating that general enthusiasm for large-scale transit upgrades does not automatically translate into popular support for every administrative land transaction.
Despite these political setbacks, tangible infrastructure changes are arriving. The new railway station is scheduled to open by the end of the year, complemented by the ongoing construction of a third high-rise tower. Gredig emphasized that while these represent essential milestones, a functional neighborhood cannot be declared overnight. As Gredig put it, one cannot simply state that a location is an urban center today when it was not one yesterday.
Transitioning Toward an Autofree Future
The long-term character of Chur West is slated for a radical departure from its industrial past. Once completed, the entire sector—excluding designated access roads and necessary delivery traffic—will be free of motor vehicles, with parking relegated largely to underground structures. Pedestrians will eventually rely on a heavily landscaped green corridor known as the “Westweg” to connect the new center directly to the old town.
Realizing this transition requires extraordinary patience. City officials estimate that another 10 to 15 years will be necessary to achieve substantial progress, aligning closely with the canton’s original 2017 assessment projecting a 25-year planning horizon. The central question facing municipal authorities is no longer merely why the second center lags behind its initial timeline, but whether subsequent developmental phases can gather enough momentum to fulfill the original promise.
«Man kann nicht sagen, ab heute ist es ein Stadtzentrum und gestern war’s noch keins.»
