Grünau district park

School playground becomes a neighbourhood park

In a multi-stage participation process "Big Picture Grünau", a vision for a liveable Grünau district was developed in 2021-2022 under the leadership of the Building Construction Department (HBD) in cooperation between the city, neighbourhood residents, school and GZ. This resulted in the "Grünau 2030+ target image" as an orientation framework on which the future development of the neighbourhood is to be aligned.

The "Neighbourhood Park Working Group" dealt with the further development of the school playground into a neighbourhood park. Young people from the neighbourhood were also involved in this process and were able to contribute their wishes and opinions on places to spend time in Grünau. This project will be made possible after the land swap for the alternative location of the secondary school building. The Fontana Landschaftsarchitektur office and its team won the planner selection procedure for the planning and realisation of the park tendered by Grün Stadt Zürich.

The office is supported in the development by Ampio Participation and the Office for Social Space & Urban Life of the Social Services of the City of Zurich, as well as the GZ Grünau, the former Altstetten/Grünau hub and the neighbourhood association.

Continuing participation

Further planning was based on the results of the "Big Picture Grünau" participation process. The original "Neighbourhood Park Working Group" developed into the so-called "Advisory Group". It consists of around 15 representatives of various institutions from the neighbourhood and plays a central role in the further development of the Grünau neighbourhood park. They discuss thematic priorities, contribute their local knowledge as multipliers and reflect the participation process.

In addition to the support group, there is a regular exchange with a smaller so-called "track group". This group supports the project team with questions about the procedure regarding participation and the further development of the project.

Participation September 2025

In September 2025, Grün Stadt Zürich invited the neighbourhood population to participate in the planning of the future Grünau neighbourhood park. The neighbourhood population was able to discuss the planning status at a public participation event, at the "tarpaulin run" at the GZ Grünau and at the children's and youth participation.

Review of the public participation event

Review of child and youth participation

The feedback shows that the neighbourhood population supports the planned development and is looking forward to the new park. Many see this as a great opportunity and an enrichment for the neighbourhood. The results of all participation events were evaluated and summarised in an evaluation report. The document "Participation Evaluation Report" can be found below under "Related documents". The results of the participation were incorporated into the further planning of the neighbourhood park.

What happens next?

The construction project is currently being worked out. It specifies in more detail how the park is to be designed and implemented. The expected costs are calculated on this basis.

city will then apply to the city council and municipal council for the necessary financial resources. At the same time, the Office of Urban Development is carrying out a partial revision of the Building and Zoning Regulations (BZO). This is intended to create the legal conditions for the construction of the district park.

The building application is expected to be submitted in 2027. However, construction can only begin once the BZO partial revision is in force. As things stand today, the Grünau district park can be structurally implemented in 2029/2030.

Further information will be posted on this page on an ongoing basis.