Forest town in the Bremgarten forest in Bern

The Swiss Forest Act is very clear about clearing: "clearing is prohibited". An exceptional permit may only be granted if the applicant can prove that there are important reasons for the clearing that outweigh the interest in forest conservation and also meet the following requirements: The work for which clearing is to be carried out must be dependent on the proposed site; the work must also factually fulfill the requirements of spatial planning; and the clearing must not result in a significant threat to the environment. According to the Forest Act, important reasons do not include financial interests, such as the most profitable use of the land or the cheap procurement of land for non-forestry purposes. The legal situation is therefore clear. And yet, in Bern, a piece of forest is to give way to a residential development for around 8,000 people - an idea that provokes and shakes a taboo.

Five percent of the forest area

A piece of the Bremgarten forest, located on the edge of the city at the end of the Länggass quarter directly next to the highway, would have to be sacrificed for the city expansion. Although the area to be cleared is only about five percent of the large urban forest, every tree that is to be felled is already stirring up emotions. Because "forest stirs emotions," said planner and co-initiator Peter Jakob of the architectural firm bauart at a panel discussion. He knows that there are high hurdles to overcome if the project is to be realized. The initiators therefore do not want to change the ban on clearing. Whereas at the beginning of the planning process, the focus was on amending the Forest Act, today the issue is a special permit that is required for the project - for infrastructure buildings such as energy centers and distributors, for example. But according to the Forest Act, the initiators must prove that their project is site-specific and only makes sense there. Jakob is convinced that an exceptional permit is possible at this location, since the planned piece of forest is already heavily devalued due to its proximity to the highway and the current settlement boundary. It is certainly not a piece of forest like those found in rural areas. But whether that is enough to clear a large contiguous piece out of it is highly debatable.

On closer inspection, it becomes clear that the name Waldstadt does not quite correspond to reality. A city surrounded by forest is not envisaged. Rather, it will be a matter of reducing the Bremgarten forest and increasing the settlement area of the city via a freeway overlay in a northwesterly direction - at a time, it should be noted, when the revision of the Spatial Planning Act calls for the densification of cities towards the inside and the building on greenfield sites is to be restricted. Opponents of the project argue that further building land is currently being zoned in the Bern region, which continues to promote urban sprawl: There is no need for the Waldstadt. They are also fighting to preserve the forest strip as a local recreation area. Under the leadership of the SVP, they have submitted a popular initiative, which is expected to be voted on in 2014. The people are to make a fundamental decision on whether or not further plans for a forest city should be made. The opponents also plead for an urban expansion not at the edge of Länggasse, but in the west: More residential space could be realized in Brünnen-Süd, they argue, and much of the infrastructure already exists. But the initiators are sticking to their idea. Large employers such as the university or the Inselspital are located in the immediate vicinity of Waldstadt, which reduces commuter flows. That makes sense both economically and ecologically, they say. "If 8,000 people can live there and work in the city, less infrastructure needs to be provided for 8,000 commuters," Jakob argues. That's why expanding the city in that area makes sense, he says.

Trend reversal in sight?

The Bern discussion indicates that there could be a change in trend with regard to the future handling of settlement expansion into the forest area. The Waldstadt seems to become a precedent and could cause a dam break. Although the initiators are in favor of the high hurdles for exceptional clearing permits, the beacon is already shining in other parts of the country and will sooner or later land on the political floor. A relaxation of the strict clearing rules, however, is in stark contrast to Switzerland's spatial planning goals, which have been the subject of controversial debate in recent years and led to the adoption of the new spatial planning law at the beginning of the year. If it becomes easier to obtain exceptional permits in the future, the step to residential and business parks in the middle of the forest is only a small one. In May of this year, initiators in the canton of Schaffhausen launched an idea similar to the one in Bern: they propose clearing state forest for a forest city with a commercial component and creating jobs near highway access roads. Economic promoter Thomas Holenstein demands that the city rezone an area of about one square kilometer. This would create residential space that is already well developed. At the same time, the proceeds from the sale of about one billion francs could "secure the prosperity of an entire generation in the canton, " Holenstein told SRF television. The money would not only be used to make important investments, but also to compensate those rural communities that would have to relinquish building zones for their part. At the annual meeting of the Schaffhausen Economic Development Agency, Holenstein met with an open ear from Giorgio Behr, entrepreneur and president of the Schaffhausen Industrial Association. Behr himself considers the establishment of a compact "forest city" on the outskirts of Schaffhausen to be the most sensible idea for a rezoning. Holenstein and Behr receive no support from the canton: the civic building and forestry director Reto Dubach makes it clear that the vision has no chance of being realized. The main reason: federal law prohibits such forest clearings.

Launch discussion

The proponents of the forest cities see it differently. They say there needs to be a discussion about how long cultivated land can continue to be consumed while the forest is strictly protected. There are different legal opinions on this. According to Der Bund, former Zurich city president Josef Estermann, who is on the advisory board of the Bern forest city project, also believes that the forest law should not be valued more highly than spatial planning or environmental law. Furthermore, it allows exceptions if one site proves to be clearly better than all others. Conclusion: The debate has been launched and is important for the whole of Switzerland. It raises the following questions: When should forest be cleared for building? Does the compulsory densification still apply, or are we sacrificing cultivated land or forest outside the centers?

Legally hardly enforceable

A legal opinion by the Swiss Association for National Planning was commissioned by the Canton of Zurich to clarify whether forest clearing for housing is legally enforceable. The authors conclude that this is not possible. In other words, the national forest law would have to be amended. But at present, it would be difficult to find a majority for this. For a possible new quarter in the Bremgarten forest, things look rather bleak for the city of Bern. According to the legal opinion, forests may only be cleared if there is a predominant interest. But this is not the case in Bern. In addition, there is great potential for dense living in Bern, and the Brünnen area in the west of the city is ideal for housing.