Andrew Nash
Vienna Transport Strategies

San Francisco Zurich Initiative Planning Project

2005

The San Francisco Zurich Initiative (SFZH) Planning Project is part of a partnership between the San Francisco Bay Area and Zurich region of Switzerland aimed at fostering knowledge sharing between companies and institutions in these two exciting and innovative regions.

The SFZH Planning Project (pdf) is a joint project between SFZH and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). The project purpose is to encourage improved planning by facilitating contacts and project-based cooperation between planners and policy leaders in Zurich and San Francisco.

The project facilitates contacts between planners using the City Planners Network website which presents information on planning organizations in both cities, suggested city planning highlight tours, and the ability for registered users to contact each other to arrange meetings and exchange information.

As part of the exchange program, two presentations have been made at SPUR's midday brownbag lunch program:

• Redevelopment planning at Zurich's main train station (Hauptbahnhof)
• StadtbahnZug! A regional rail success story

More presentations are planned.

The project also includes Planning Weeks which consist of having planners from one city spend a week in the other city working directly with their counterparts in the other city on specific projects. During the Planning Week, planners would make presentations at public meetings (e.g. SPUR's regular noontime forums) describing projects and issues in their city and networking receptions would be organized in the evenings.

Finally the project includes preparation of detailed planning studies which would be collaborative efforts between project participants.