Start of construction RailCity 2005 Est’ed completion 2008 & 2014 Size 2,500 m2 of new retail space Cost CHF 60,000,000 Start of construction Stadtraum HB 2009 Est’ed completion 2018 Size 78,000 m2

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Zürich – Hauptbahnhof, Switzerland

Zurich’s first train station was built by Gustav Albert Wegmann and opened in 1847 after the completion of the first rail line in Switzerland between Baden and Zurich. The further expansion of the rail system led to the construction of a new station – the current – built by Jakob Frie-drich Wanner and opened in 1871.

Between then and now, Zurich Main Sta-tion continued to be under constant re-construction and renovation. Beside the perpetual extension of the tracks and the main hall, the station square was redes-igned (1889; 1967-1970), tracks were lowered (1927) and subsequently devel-oped into an underground station (1990) including the reconstruction of Zurich Main Station into a through station.

The construction of the trough station also brought about the opportunity to develop new commercial spaces within the re-build station. Shop-Ville, the 24h retail concept also advertized with the slogan “Shopping, Linger, Meeting,” was first introduced in 1970, however, will be ex-panded Zurich Main Station with 2500 m2 of new retail space in coordination with the current addition of four high-speed underground through-tracks.

Moreover, in 2003 the SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways and the City of Zurich

(Swiss Post withdrew from the project in 2008) initiated the Stadtraum HB project that will redevelop and “revalue” a large area around the Main Station into a dis-trict with “clear identity.” The respective development plan and design concept for the area was approved by the eligible voters of Zurich in 2006 with 65 %.

The project will be carried out in three stages with the first (30,000 m2) starting in 2009. This will include the development of 70,000 m2 office space, 10,000 m2 of re-tail, 40,000 m2 educational use, and ap-proximately 8,000 m2 of residential space (mainly middle to high-prized). Its first tenants will be the Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich (Zurich School of Edu-cation) and the international finance firm UBS both expected to move in in 2012. An additional 30,000 m2 are currently being marketed to future tenants by SPG Inter-city. Phase two and three of office and residential development will be subse-quently realized until 2018.

The goal of Stadtraum HB is to bring about a new inner city district of work – shopping – living with a focus on office and service space and amenities for in-ternational companies. Together with the manifold shops, restaurants, and leisure facilities, Stadtraum HB is supposed to generate approximately 6,000 new jobs.

Resources: Official website RailCity http://www.railcity.ch/index/zuerich

RailCity Zurich develop-ment Plans http://www.railcity.ch/index/index_zuerich/railcity_07_zuerich_wir_bauen_fuer_sie.htm

Official website Stadtraum HB http://www.neueinnenstadt.ch/en/index.php

Swiss Post project with-drawal announcement

http://www.swisspost.ch/en/index/uk-privatkunden/im-immobilien/im-dienstleistungen/im-projekt/im-zuerich-stadtraum-hb.htm

Development projects led by SBB http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/konzern_projekte.htm

Zurich Main Station history Stiftung Historisches Erbe (no date) “Zeitreihe Hauptbahnhof Zürich der SBB” Bern

Public discussion forum http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=726414

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A “new quarter for Zurich”

Sources: Google Earth 2009; commons.wikimedia.org; www.railcity.ch; www.neueinnenstadt.ch.

Project partner Stadtraum HB Schweizerische Bundesbah-nen (SBB) and City of Zurich Projects Components RailCity Reconstruction of Main Station into a through station 2,500 m2 of new retail space Stadtraum HB New city district of office, residential, hotel, retail, lei-sure, education facilities, and public space with water com-ponent Representative and attractive office location for multina-tional finance, consulting, and service corporations

This project profile was developed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Emmy Noether Research Project on “The Urban Renaissance Potential of Inner-City Rail Station Redevelopment Mega-Projects.” For additional information on the project: http://megaprojects.metropolitanstudies.de