Cities and urban communities in Zurich and the Lake Geneva region have grown dynamically over the past decade, according to the Association of Swiss Cities.

Winterthur, Lausanne and the city of Zurich grew by between ten and 14 per cent since the previous census – above the average national population growth of 9.2 per cent.

The strongest growth – not counting communes which merged – was recorded by the commune of Bassersdorf in canton Zurich, which has seen its population rocket by 50.2 per cent since 2000. It was followed by the Geneva communes of Plan-les-Ouates (46.4 per cent) und Le Grand-Saconnex (38.3 per cent).

One consequence of this has been the increase in cities and urban communities with overstretched property markets.

Between 2007 and 2011, the number of cities or towns with a vacant home rate of less than 0.2 per cent rose from 12 to 27. In summer 2011, seven had a rate of less than 0.1 per cent.

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