Weststrasse im Wandel. Fünf Jahre nach der Verkehrsberuhigung und Umgestaltung
Spring Semester 2017
Die Zeitung «Die neue Weststrasse» setzt sich mit den laufenden Aufwertungs- und Verdrängungsprozessen entlang der Weststrasse in Zürich auseinander. Sie entstand im Wahlfach des Frühlingssemesters 2017. Die Studierenden führten zahlreiche Interviews mit unterschiedlichen Menschen im Quartier. Zwei Gastbeiträge weiten den Blick über die Weststrasse hinaus.
In this seminar, we will use Weststrasse as an example to examine the current transformation of a central district of Zurich through observation, interviews and photographic explorations. Weststrasse has changed significantly in just five years: from a motorway-like Westttangente to a traffic-calmed neighbourhood street. In the wake of tis decision, not only the street but also the adjacent district is undergoing fundamental change. Today, we find a trendy urban neighbourhood with attractive residential areas for high-earning newcomers, jobs and a wide variety of trendy restaurants. Many long-time residents and shop owners can no longer afford the rising rents of the renovated properties and are forced to move away. In this seminar, we examine this displacement process in the former working-class neighbourhood and try to develop alternative possibilities for urban development.
In this seminar, we will examine how Weststrasse and the surrounding neighbourhood have changed in recent years in terms of construction, economy and society. Who benefits from traffic calming measures? Who does not? For this study, we will employ various techniques of ethnographic field research. We will document transformations in the streetscape, analyse architectural interventions and interview residents, business owners and passers-by. Text discussions and guest contributions complement the empirical study. The aim of the seminar is to gain insights into current urban transformation processes and to generate findings regarding the potential and qualities of urban spatial development.
Teaching: Rahel Nüssli, Monika Streule