Development plan in Switzerland: the special land use plan for quality and density
- Simon Käslin
- 22 hours ago
- 14 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
A development plan in Switzerland is a special land use plan that lays down its own binding building and use regulations for a precisely defined area. All eight cantons in the Zurich region, eastern Switzerland and central Switzerland have such an instrument, it is simply not called the same everywhere: Gestaltungsplan in Zurich, Thurgau, Schwyz, Aargau and Lucerne, Sondernutzungsplan in St. Gallen, Bebauungsplan in Zug, Quartierplan in Schaffhausen. The same basic principle applies everywhere: deviation from the standard building regulations in exchange for demonstrated quality. Nowhere does it create an entitlement to more volume.
What differs is the minimum area, the public inspection period, who has to consent and, above all, the added value levy. Only Lucerne and Zug have a bonus quantified in law. Only Schwyz and Zug have a statutory minimum area.
Table of contents
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1. What a special land use plan is and what it is called in your canton
The framework land use plan, that is the building and zoning regulations of the municipality, applies across the board and equally to everyone. The special land use plan applies only within a defined perimeter and takes precedence there. It is the tool with which a municipality can regulate a larger site differently from its surroundings without changing the entire zone.
The designations differ:
Canton | Designation | Source | Minimum area |
Zurich | Gestaltungsplan (development plan), public or private | §§ 83 to 86 PBG, LS 700.1 | none at cantonal level |
St. Gallen | Sondernutzungsplan (special land use plan) as the only umbrella term | Art. 23 to 32 PBG, sGS 731.1 | none |
Thurgau | Gestaltungsplan (development plan) | §§ 23 to 29 PBG, RB 700 | none |
Schwyz | Gestaltungsplan (development plan) | §§ 24, 30, 31 PBG, SRSZ 400.100 | 3000 m2, 1500 m2 in core zones |
Zug | Bebauungsplan (layout plan), simple or ordinary | §§ 32, 32bis, 32ter PBG, BGS 721.11 | 2000 m2 for the simple plan |
Aargau | Gestaltungsplan (development plan) | § 21 BauG, SAR 713.100 | none |
Schaffhausen | Quartierplan (neighbourhood plan) | Art. 17 f. Baugesetz, SHR 700.100 | none |
Lucerne | Bebauungsplan and Gestaltungsplan side by side | §§ 65 to 80 PBG, SRL 735 | none at cantonal level, the BZR sets it |
Two cantons are exceptions. St. Gallen abolished the sub-forms Überbauungsplan and Gestaltungsplan with the 2017 revision of the PBG; only the uniform special land use plan remains. Lucerne runs two instruments side by side: the Bebauungsplan, which the municipality enacts, and the Gestaltungsplan, which the landowners draw up.
2. The core principle: more freedom in exchange for more quality
The bargain is the same everywhere: you are granted leeway on height, density, positioning and setbacks, and in return you deliver a quality that goes beyond what the standard building regulations allow. What no canton permits is circumventing the zone itself. The type of use permitted in the zone remains untouchable everywhere. A development plan does not turn a residential zone into a commercial zone.
The Zurich legal text illustrates the construction:
§ 83 para. 1 PBG (LS 700.1): Development plans lay down in a binding manner the number, location and external dimensions of the buildings as well as their type of use and purpose for precisely defined areas. In doing so, deviation from the provisions on the standard building regulations and from the cantonal minimum setbacks is permitted.
And the counter-check sits right next to it. § 83 para. 2 PBG requires that reasonable leeway be left for the design work. An overloaded plan will later block your own building application and can only be changed in a new planning procedure.
3. What the cantons require for a deviation
The substantive hurdle is where projects fail. It is worded differently from canton to canton, and the wording tells you what you have to argue with.
Zurich: Deviation from the standard building regulations and the cantonal minimum setbacks. The basic zoning order must not be emptied of its purpose in the process.
St. Gallen: Higher building density only in the interest of a development of high urban design and architectural quality (Art. 25 PBG).
Thurgau: An overall better settlement design, and this must be in the public interest (§ 24 para. 2 PBG).
Schwyz: Several substantial advantages over the normal building method, plus the Minergie standard or an energetically equivalent solution for residential buildings (§ 24 para. 3 PBG).
Zug: Substantial merits, that is particularly good architectural design of the buildings and open spaces as well as particularly good integration into the urban fabric (§ 32 PBG).
Aargau: A substantial public interest in the design (§ 21 para. 1 BauG), deviation from the land use plan only where the result is better (para. 2).
Schaffhausen: Economical use of land, environmentally sound, energy-saving and architecturally and aesthetically good building (Art. 17 Baugesetz).
Lucerne: Substantial advantages, settlement-appropriate quality, green spaces, access and energy concept (§ 75 para. 3 PBG).
Schwyz is the only canton that makes an energy standard a condition for the deviation. Anyone who wants more density there with a development plan has to deliver Minergie or an equivalent solution, otherwise the exemption rule does not apply at all.
4. Is there a statutory minimum area?
A misunderstanding is particularly persistent here. Only two of the eight cantons have a statutory minimum area:
Schwyz: 3000 square metres of contiguous building land, reducible to 1500 in core zones (§ 24 para. 1 PBG).
Zug: 2000 square metres for the simple Bebauungsplan and for the area development (§§ 29, 32bis PBG).
In Zurich and Lucerne it is the municipality that sets the figure, not the canton. The 6000 square metres often quoted in the canton of Zurich come from municipal building and zoning regulations and apply to the area development, not to the development plan. The Zurich PBG contains no area threshold whatsoever for the development plan. In St. Gallen, Thurgau, Aargau and Schaffhausen there is none at all.
The practical consequence: anyone who writes off a site as too small on the basis of a rule of thumb from a neighbouring canton is making the land decision on the wrong basis. What counts is always the municipal regulation, not the figure from the neighbouring canton. How the area affects the realistic volume is clarified by a feasibility and volume study.
5. Is there a guaranteed bonus? Only in two cantons
The most common false assumption in investment calculations is that a development plan automatically brings more utilisation. A statutory quantified increase exists in exactly two cantons:
Lucerne: In areas subject to a development plan requirement, at most 3 metres more overall height and 20 per cent more site coverage ratio, without a plan requirement at most 10 per cent each (§ 75 PBG).
Zug: With the simple Bebauungsplan, one additional storey, 20 per cent more permitted density, 50 per cent more building length and reduced internal setbacks (§ 32bis PBG).
In Zurich, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Schwyz, Aargau and Schaffhausen no percentage is written into the law. There, the additional use is the result of negotiation in exchange for demonstrated quality and is not owed by the authority. Anyone who bases a return calculation on an assumed bonus is working with a figure that does not exist in law. What this means for the calculation is shown in the article on the return on construction projects.
6. What a development plan can and cannot lay down
A development plan can typically regulate: building areas and building plots, heights and number of storeys, permitted density, roof shape and materials, the open space and surroundings concept, access and parking, phasing as well as energy and sustainability requirements.
What comes from higher-ranking law is not negotiable. A development plan does not set aside the watercourse space or the forest setback under federal law, and it does not replace a change of zone. Building lines also remain in force unless they are changed in the same procedure.
The art lies in leaving things out. Regulate the essentials in a binding way and leave the rest open. The canton of Zurich even writes this idea into the law (§ 83 para. 2 PBG), but it applies equally everywhere.
7. Who draws up the plan and who has to consent
Whether you can draw up the plan yourself and how many co-owners have to go along with it is the biggest driver of schedule risk in the entire procedure.
Zurich: The private development plan becomes generally binding if it is approved by the landowners who own at least two thirds of the areas included (§ 85 para. 2 PBG). Added to this is the consent of the body responsible for the building and zoning regulations (§ 86 PBG).
Schwyz: Application by all landowners. Only where a development plan requirement exists is an application by the owners of at least half of the area sufficient (§ 30 para. 1 PBG).
Zug: With the simple Bebauungsplan the consent of the owners is not required, the right to apply lies with at least 50 per cent of the area.
Lucerne: Drawing up the development plan is a matter for the landowners (§ 74 PBG); in the event of disagreement the municipality can step in.
St. Gallen, Thurgau, Aargau and Schaffhausen: no statutory consent quota. Private parties have a right to apply and to submit a draft, but no entitlement to adoption.
On sites with several owners this is the first real hurdle, and it is rarely a legal question. It is a question of negotiation, and it has to be conducted early, not once the plan has been drawn.
8. Procedure, public inspection periods and approval compared
The process is similar everywhere: preliminary clarification with the municipality, draft plan with special building regulations, cantonal preliminary examination, public inspection with objections, adoption, approval, legal force. What differs are the deadlines and the question of whether the canton still has to approve at the end.
Canton | Public inspection period | Cantonal approval |
Zurich | 60 days (§ 7 para. 2 PBG) | yes, by the competent directorate |
St. Gallen | 30 days (Art. 41 PBG) | yes, by the competent cantonal office (Art. 38) |
Thurgau | 20 days (§ 29 PBG) | yes, by the department (§ 5 para. 2) |
Schwyz | 20 days (§ 30 PBG) | yes, by the cantonal government |
Zug | 30 days | simple plan no, ordinary plan yes |
Aargau | 30 days (§ 24 BauG) | yes, by the competent department (§ 27) |
Schaffhausen | procedure under Art. 17 f. Baugesetz | yes, by the building department |
Lucerne | 30 days (§ 77 PBG) | Bebauungsplan yes, by the cantonal government (§ 20) |
Two extremes are worth noting. Zurich has the longest public inspection period at 60 days and, for a private plan, additionally requires a resolution by the body responsible for the BZO, against which a referendum is usually available. Zug manages without a preliminary examination and without cantonal approval for the simple Bebauungsplan, because the permissible deviations are listed exhaustively in the law. Procedural durations from one canton cannot be transferred to another. How long the subsequent building permit procedure takes is set out in the article How long does a building permit take.
9. Compensation for added value: the federal requirement
Compensation for added value is the item most frequently missing from early calculations. The basis is set out in federal law.
Art. 5 para. 1 RPG (SR 700): Cantonal law shall provide for appropriate compensation for significant advantages and disadvantages arising from planning under this Act.
Art. 5 para. 1bis RPG sets this out in concrete terms: planning advantages arising from land newly zoned into the building zone are compensated at a rate of at least 20 per cent, payable on development or sale. The provision stems from the revision of the Spatial Planning Act of 15 June 2012, in force since 1 May 2014, with an implementation deadline until the end of April 2019.
What matters is what the federal government does NOT prescribe. Art. 5 para. 1bis covers exclusively rezonings into the building zone. Whether upzonings and changes of zone within the building zone are compensated, and thus precisely the cases that a development plan triggers, is decided by the cantons and, in several of them, by the municipalities.
10. The added value levy in the eight cantons
Canton | Rate | Covered at cantonal level | Exemption threshold |
Zurich | 20 % canton, up to 40 % through the municipalities | rezoning into the building zone; upzoning and change of zone left to the municipalities | Fr. 100'000 for upzoning and change of zone |
St. Gallen | 20 % | rezoning into the building zone only | Fr. 30'000 |
Thurgau | 20 % | rezoning into the building zone and change of zone from public zones | none in the law |
Schwyz | 20 %, change of zone and upzoning at most 20 % | rezoning into the building zone mandatory, change of zone and upzoning optional through the municipality | Fr. 30'000 |
Zug | 20 % | rezoning into the building zone and change of zone from zones of public interest | no general one, only for boundary adjustments |
Aargau | 20 %, municipalities up to 30 % | rezoning into the building zone and certain changes of zone, upzoning not | below 80 m2 or Fr. 5'000 |
Schaffhausen | 30 % rezoning into the building zone, 20 % change of zone, up to 20 % upzoning at municipal level | rezoning into the building zone and change of zone | added value below Fr. 10'000 |
Lucerne | 20 % | rezoning into the building zone, change of zone and plan amendment in areas subject to a plan requirement | Fr. 50'000 or Fr. 100'000 |
The rate of 20 per cent that everyone hears about is therefore only the lower limit. Schaffhausen requires 30 per cent for rezoning into the building zone, Aargau allows the municipalities up to 30 per cent, and in the canton of Zurich the municipalities may skim off up to 40 per cent for upzonings and changes of zone. The city of Zurich uses this scope in full.
11. When the added value is not in the law but in the agreement
For a development plan the cantonal table is often not the relevant figure at all. In St. Gallen, Thurgau and Aargau cantonal law does not cover upzoning, in Zug, Schwyz and Schaffhausen only partly or only where the municipality has introduced it. Where the canton prescribes nothing, the skimming does not disappear. It moves into the urban development agreement that is attached to the plan.
This agreement is negotiable, but it is usually negotiated late, when the project costs are already committed and the time pressure is on your side. The usual counter-performances include land transfers for access and open space, contributions to public facilities, shares of affordable housing and commitments to competition procedures.
Practical consequence for the calculation: enter the added value contribution as a separate item from the outset, even where no cantonal rate applies. An honest calculation works with a range, not with a zero. How such a cost framework is built up is shown by project optimisation.
12. Development plan, area development or standard building regulations?
In several cantons a lighter instrument sits alongside the special land use plan and manages without a planning procedure. In the canton of Zurich this is the area development under §§ 69 ff. PBG, in Zug the area development under § 29 PBG. The comparison using the Zurich example:
Criterion | Standard building regulations | Area development | Development plan |
Legal basis | BZO and PBG | §§ 69 ff. PBG plus BZO | §§ 83 ff. PBG |
Procedure | building application only | building application with increased requirements | separate planning procedure |
Duration | short | medium | long, one to several years |
Minimum area | none | according to BZO, often 6000 m2 | none at cantonal level |
Setbacks from forest, water and neighbours | apply | may not be reduced (§ 72 PBG) | cantonal minimum setbacks negotiable, higher-ranking law not |
Political risk | low | low | objections, resolution, possibly a referendum |
An important point on the area development: § 71 PBG grants no advantages, it sets requirements. It demands that buildings, installations and surroundings are particularly well designed and appropriately fitted out and equipped. The advantages in the form of higher utilisation or additional storeys are set out in the municipal building and zoning regulations. The key figures behind this are explained in the article on the utilisation ratio.
13. Worked example: when the effort pays off
Starting point: a site of 6000 square metres in a three-storey residential zone with a utilisation ratio of 0.6. Under the standard building regulations that gives 3600 square metres of chargeable floor area. The development plan is intended to bring 20 per cent more, that is 720 square metres in addition.
Item | Order of magnitude | Comment |
Additional floor area | 720 m2 | equivalent to roughly six to eight flats |
Planning costs for the development plan | Fr. 150'000 to 400'000 | planning, expert reports, procedural support |
Added value levy | 20 to 40 % depending on canton and municipality | on the planning-related added value |
Time lost compared with the standard building regulations | one to three years | interest, construction price trend, market risk |
The calculation works out if the additional floor area clearly exceeds the sum of planning costs, added value levy and time lost. With small sites and a slim bonus it often does not. That is why a volume study always comes first, showing how much additional use is realistically achievable, rather than an assumption. For apartment buildings in particular, the article on the feasibility study for an apartment building shows how the unit mix and area efficiency affect the result.
14. Six mistakes that cause development plans to fail
Misunderstanding the development plan as a density tool. Only Lucerne and Zug quantify a bonus in the law. Everywhere else there is additional use only in exchange for demonstrated quality, and the authority does not owe it.
Taking the minimum area from the neighbouring canton. Only Schwyz and Zug have a statutory figure. In Zurich and Lucerne the municipality sets it, in four cantons there is none at all.
Factoring in the added value levy too late. Where the canton does not cover upzoning, the skimming sits in the urban development agreement and is negotiated late.
Underestimating the ownership question. Zurich requires two thirds of the area, Schwyz in principle all owners. Without this clarification every schedule is worthless.
Planning in too much detail. An overloaded plan later blocks your own building application and can only be changed in a new planning procedure.
Starting with the desired volume and supplying the justification afterwards. That is the surest way to lose a procedure, in every one of the eight cantons.
How the building application proceeds once the plan has been adopted is explained in the article on building applications and building permits. Anyone still ahead of the land purchase will find the upstream checks in the article on buying land in Switzerland.
15. Frequently asked questions about the development plan in Switzerland
What is a development plan in simple terms? A special land use plan for a precisely defined area that lays down its own binding building and use regulations and takes precedence there over the framework land use plan. It permits deviations from the standard building regulations but demands above-average quality in return. It is not called the same everywhere: in St. Gallen it is the Sondernutzungsplan, in Zug the Bebauungsplan, in Schaffhausen the Quartierplan.
Is there a minimum area for a development plan? Only in two of the eight cantons compared. Schwyz requires 3000 square metres, 1500 in core zones (§ 24 para. 1 PBG), Zug requires 2000 square metres for the simple Bebauungsplan. In Zurich and Lucerne the municipality sets the figure, in St. Gallen, Thurgau, Aargau and Schaffhausen there is none. The 6000 square metres often quoted in the canton of Zurich belong to the area development and are set out in the municipal building and zoning regulations.
Does a development plan automatically bring more utilisation? No. Only Lucerne, with at most 3 metres of additional height and 20 per cent more site coverage ratio, and Zug, with one additional storey and 20 per cent more permitted density for the simple Bebauungsplan, have a bonus quantified in law. In Zurich, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Schwyz, Aargau and Schaffhausen no percentage is written into the law. The additional use is the result of negotiation in exchange for demonstrated quality.
How long does a development plan procedure take? Realistically one to several years, depending on the canton and the political situation. The public inspection alone takes 60 days in the canton of Zurich, 30 days in St. Gallen, Zug, Aargau and Lucerne and 20 days in Thurgau and Schwyz. Added to this are preliminary clarification, drafting of the plan, cantonal preliminary examination, adoption and approval. In Zug, cantonal approval is not required for the simple Bebauungsplan.
How high is the added value levy? In Art. 5 para. 1bis RPG the federal government requires at least 20 per cent, but only for rezonings into the building zone. At cantonal level the range goes further: Schaffhausen requires 30 per cent for new rezoning into the building zone, Aargau allows the municipalities up to 30 per cent, and in the canton of Zurich municipalities may skim off up to 40 per cent for upzonings and changes of zone. Exemption thresholds lie between Fr. 5'000 in Aargau and Fr. 100'000 in the canton of Zurich.
Who has to consent to a private development plan? This varies greatly from canton to canton. In the canton of Zurich the private plan becomes generally binding if the owners of at least two thirds of the areas included consent to it (§ 85 para. 2 PBG), and the consent of the body responsible for the building and zoning regulations is also required. In Schwyz all landowners are needed in principle. In Zug no consent is required for the simple Bebauungsplan.
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