A development vision for Dübendorf: Successful support in granting building rights
Published: July 17, 2023Last updated: July 23, 2025
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Dübendorf is undergoing dynamic development. Fortunately, the city has sufficient building land reserves to steer and direct the urban development and creation of high-quality living and working spaces. Wüest Partner supported the city in this process. In the meantime, a suitable development partner has been successfully found as the building leaseholder for a site.
Dübendorf borders the city of Zurich to the east and is part of the Zurich metropolitan region. After Zurich, it is the most populated municipality in the dynamic region of Glattal. The transport system in the immediate vicinity of Zurich and Kloten Airport is excellent.
Dübendorf is also expanding. The population has grown by more than 20% in the last 10 years and now has just over 30,000 inhabitants. In addition, the city is home to many important companies, some of which operate internationally, providing 20,000 jobs. It aims to position itself as a prime location for research and innovation and to be known as an attractive place to do business.
Development of building land reserves
Urban development and the creation of high-quality living and working spaces, therefore, are a high priority. Dübendorf must continue to increase its attractiveness as a place to live and work –– and is fortunate to have large reserves of unused building land within the municipal area. In the future, these land reserves are to be used in the most sensible manner and adapted to each location, in order to support the sustainable development of the city as optimally as possible.
Gumpisbüel site
Selling this site was ruled out from the start. However, the city did not wish to develop it itself, so it handed over the building rights to a reliable partner. In this way, the city remains the owner of the land and can actively influence its development and use. The goal is an active land policy and sustainable urban development, with aspects such as innovation, cohabitation, and low-cost housing taken into account. An appropriate combination of market-price housing and affordable apartments will promote a good population mix and generate an adequate long-term financial return from the land. Accordingly, Dübendorf looked for a development partner with a clear vision and who would integrate the city’s interests into the project.
In the meantime, the process for Gumpisbüel was successfully completed and a suitable partner for developing the site was found. As the site is located in a residential neighbourhood, the focus was on attractive family developments, affordable housing, and financially sensible rents.
Process support from Wüest Partner
Wüest Partner supported the entire process regarding content and organization. The structured process of awarding the building rights was carried out under the SIA 142/143 competition procedures. We acted as external project managers and were in close contact with the City of Dübendorf’s internal project management at all times.