Newsletter «Zurich (Inter)national»

This October, the 20^th anniversary of the sister city partnership between San Francisco and Zurich was celebrated. This partnership has led to numerous exchanges and collaborations over the years between the two cities in different realms. The focus of the exchange was on the topic of drug policy. Both cities face the challenges of drug abuse in public spaces. San Francisco, in particular, has been struggling with a rampant open drug scene for several years, much like in Zurich thirty years ago. A highlight of the visit was the event «Leading the Circular Revolution», implemented in collaboration with Swissnex, which focused on circular economy. Overall, the 20th anniversary of the sister city partnership demonstrates the continued importance of this relationship and the commitment of both cities to work together to find solutions to urban challenges. Therefore, the Memorandum of Understanding for continued cooperation for the next five years was signed by Mayor Corine Mauch and Mayor London Breed.

A delegation of the City of Vienna led by the city's CEO Dietmar Griebler embarked on a trip to Zurich in October to learn from the City of Zurich's innovative smart city approaches. Moreover, after a visit to the Zollhaus for the topic of new housing concepts, the delegation was able to get an idea of the City of Zurich's climate measures in public spaces with the net zero walking tour. The discussions with experts from the Civil Engineering Office, the City Planning Office, Zurich's Environmental and Health Protection Service and ewz provided valuable insights into key city strategies. The City of Zurich maintains a regular exchange with Vienna within the framework of the city trilogue together with the City of Hamburg.

On September 21, a delegation from the City of Oslo led by their city architect visited Zurich to learn about the development of the lakeshore. The focus was on the left shore of the lake, where various urban development projects are currently being planned and implemented. The delegation from Oslo, which is also working intensively on the redesign of the city's lakeshore, was very interested in the participatory projects, the involvement of private parties and the handling of traffic demands. After a presentation on the challenges of urban development in Zurich, the delegation enjoyed an informative walking tour along the left bank of the lake and a boat ride back to the city.