Zurich First-HandAbout this site
Zurich First-Hand summarises what is decided in the City of Zurich: decisions of the city executive (Stadtrat), debates and votes in the city parliament (Gemeinderat), ballots, and new figures from the city’s statistics office. Every post is written from the original documents and links them: the city’s press releases, the parliament’s minutes and motions, ballot papers and open data. Newspaper articles serve at most as a tip, never as a source.
Who it is for
For everyone who lives in Zurich and wants to know what the city decides, without having to read the official German of the original documents. That is why every post is also available in English. About a third of the population has no Swiss passport and cannot vote in municipal ballots, but is just as affected by the decisions.
How posts are organised
- District (Kreis): when a decision concerns a particular place, the post carries the Kreis number. City-wide decisions are listed under “Whole city”.
- Topic: housing, schools, transport, environment, budget, social affairs, integration, safety, culture, ballots.
- Source body: city executive (Stadtrat), city parliament (Gemeinderat), ballot, or statistics office.
Who writes it
The summaries are written by an AI (Claude) from the linked documents only; figures are not rounded or added when they are not in the original. Mistakes are still possible. The original document is always authoritative. Most originals are in German; titles of laws and initiatives are given in German with an English explanation. This site is not a service of the City of Zurich.
A project by Dimitris Leventeas. Corrections are welcome.