So much farmland near Zürich? Who decides when farmland can be built on? Seems silly a country like Switzerland would prioritize farming near cities. When can be imported so cheaply or made in the wilderness instead. People can also barely afford to live here.

I see crazy land prices near Zürich yet so much farmland everywhere. Who decides when farmland can be built on and is there lobbyism from construction companies to get this land? Seem like a great business to turn farmland into apartments. Are the farmers & contruction companies cashing in on all this profit. I would imagine it's 100´s of millions they can make when turning a farm into apartments.

Does the common single house buyer benefit from any of this or only rich investors?

Unlike some other countries, Switzerland plans for worst case scenarios. Hence, farming is protected.

If we goto war, and close borders (i.e. cannot import food), we need to be self-sufficient. Why fill a country full of people when you cannot sustain them?

https://www.zh.ch/content/dam/zhweb/...cht_260417.pdf

https://www.are.admin.ch/dam/are/de/...shemmnisse.pdf

https://www.are.admin.ch/dam/are/de/...auzonen_de.pdf

https://www.zh.ch/de/politik-staat/g...04_01-107.html

https://www.zh.ch/de/planen-bauen/ra...gsplanung.html

https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/hbd/de/...nenplaene.html

https://www.beobachter.ch/gesetze-re...ionarsmaschine

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What?

It's called property rights. If landowners want to use the land for farming, why not?

Change of use has to be approved by the local community. Unless they've given that right over to the canton. I'm sure some farmers would love to sell their land and retire.

There is a reason Switzerland is green & pleasant. Building regs are tightly enforced and there is no 'bleed' between the city & the countryside like you see in other countries. There are still so many brownfield sites in the cities that can be built on without the shortsighted view that we should just concrete over the countryside. If you drive from Zurich towards Langnau you'll see a perfect example of how the Swiss can repurpose brownfield sites into accommodation without the need to trash nature.

That's also true. The place I live used to be old warehouses until 5 years ago. Today, 4 apartment buildings. There's no shortage of old factories and warehouses that can be demolished and then rebuild something else there. From some perspective, it's the outsourcing OP mentioned. But what's being outsourced is manufacturing, not food production

As stated areas have to be rezoned to allow building, and there's usually a lot of local resistance to this since very few residents want to lose the green space.

In our local area there's a society dedicated to protecting green space on our hill, they fight every attempt to rezone space, apply for all legal environmental and cultural protections etc: https://www.freiraum-meienberg.ch

Well you can't eat concrete- and most of us don't really enjoy looking at it either. Covid has illustrated how difficult import and exports can become when things go wrong- and how important it is to keep a buyoant farming sector.
And to protect some quality of life.

I grew up here in 50s and 60s- and I can assure you a lot of building has been allowed, and not always for the better.

If you want space, a lot of space- at a good price- go further and beyond for 1/4 of the price or less. Covid has also shown that for a large % of the population, going in to the Office everyday is just not necessary, and here even rural areas have excellent WiFi access and speed (out in the sticks with 500 Mbit). Dogs, cats, horses - small classes and nice people- who needs crowded cities?

The Swiss also like to plan things in a holistic way.

In some other countries, some investor may come along, buy a field off a farmer and build a big shopping mall. The next thing that happens is that lots of people come shopping and clog up the little streets in the surrounding villages.

In Switzerland there is a long term plan. Things get planned in a joined up manner. So every new development has to be tested for its environmental impact and negative effects on the surrounding area and quality of life. You don't just build houses for example, but also build, say, a school or a hospital, before the existing ones hit the limits of their capacity and descend into misery.

Switzerland is a small country and the available space has to be used with care and not wasted. A lot of the green land around Zürich serves for recreation or nature protection or as a green lung to provide fresh air for the city.

I hope no one. Ever.

Heathen!

Unfortunately, the farmland is being constantly eaten away, just take a look at historical aerial photos of basically any area in Switzerland (use the watch icon on the right side of the screen).

Anyone who buys house in development areas bordering farmland should expect that there will be houses on that farmland in the next 10-20 years.

As of who decides: mainly commune and this is where corruption, front-running etc. is quite widespread. I know first hand of a very rich commune in Canton SZ where farmland reclassified as building belonged to families of commune leaders. What a surprise....