Bern Agglomeration Programme (Agglomerationsprogramm Verkehr und Siedlung)
Core idea
A federally co-funded programme coordinating transport and settlement development across the Bern agglomeration.
Why it matters
Defines the modern Swiss model of metropolitan governance tying transit investment to land-use planning.
Description
The Bern Agglomeration Programme is a recurring planning instrument through which the Bern metropolitan region coordinates transport and settlement (Verkehr und Siedlung) development to qualify for federal co-funding. Submitted in its first generation at the end of 2007 alongside other Bernese agglomerations, it is prepared by cantonal and regional bodies, notably the Regionalkonferenz Bern-Mittelland, and assessed by the federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE). The programme bundles public-transport, road, cycling and densification measures into a single coordinated package, renewed roughly every four years, with federal contributions channelled through the National Roads and Agglomeration Traffic Fund (NAF, formerly the infrastructure fund).
Significance
The programme exemplifies the Swiss federal agglomeration-policy model, which made federal transport money conditional on integrated land-use and mobility planning. It institutionalised metropolitan-scale coordination across cantonal and municipal boundaries and became a template for governing Swiss city-regions. As a flagship case it shows how fiscal incentives can align settlement growth with transit provision.
What shaped it
- Transit-oriented development (TOD) (1993)
- The metro / underground railway (1863)
- World becomes majority urban (2007)
- The compact city (1973-1990s)
Sources
- https://www.are.admin.ch/are/de/home/verkehr-und-infrastruktur/programme-und-projekte/agglomerat
- https://www.raumplanung.dij.be.ch/de/start/raumplanungsthemen/siedlung-und-verkehr/agglomeration