Lugano


Lugano is a town and a municipality in southern Switzerland in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino bordering Italy.
The between 2004 and 2013 territorially vastly expanded municipality has a population of, and an urban agglomeration of over 150,000. The ninth largest Swiss town, it is the largest in Ticino and largest with an Italian speaking majority outside of Italy. The town lies on Lake Lugano, surrounded by the mountains of the Lugano Prealps.
The eastern part of the municipality shares a border with Italy.

Name and coat of arms

The toponym is first recorded in 804, in the form Luanasco, in 874 as Luano, and from 1189 as Lugano.
German-language variants of the name were Lowens, Lauis, Lauwis, Louwerz.
The local Lombard form of the name is rendered Lugan.
The etymology of the name is uncertain, suggestions include derivation from Latin lucus, from a vulgar Latin lakvannus and from the god Lugus.

History

Pre-history

The shores of Lake Lugano have been inhabited since the Stone Age. Within the modern town limits a number of ground stones or quern-stones have been found. In the area surrounding Lugano, items from the Copper Age and the Iron Age have been found. There are Etruscan monuments at Davesco-Soragno, Pregassona, and Viganello. Graves with jewelry and household items have been found in Aldesago, Davesco, Pazzallo and Pregassona along with Celtic money in Viganello.
The region around Lake Lugano was settled by the Romans by the 1st century BC. There was an important Roman town north of Lugano at Bioggio. There are fewer traces of the Romans in Lugano, but several inscriptions, graves and coins indicate that some Romans lived in what would become Lugano.

Foundation of Lugano

The first written mention of a settlement at Lugano can be found in documents, which are of disputed authenticity, with which the Longobard king Liutprand ceded various assets located in Lugano to the Church of Saint Carpophorus in Como in 724. Other documents, dating from 804 and 844 refer to Lake Lugano as Laco Luanasco, and an act of 984 indicates Lugano as a market town.
During the fighting between Guelphs and Ghibellines and the new disputes between Como and Milan, during the 14th and 15th centuries, Lugano was the scene of clashes between opposing forces. After a long rule by the Rusca family, Lugano was freed from the domination of Como, which had been taken over in 1335 by the Visconti. At the same time the link between town and the valley strengthened. By 1405–06 documents attest to a vallis comunitas Lugani et, a governing body that was independent of Como. The new community included the parishes of Lugano, Agno, Riva San Vitale and Capriasca. In 1416 the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, conquered the region of Lugano and the Rusca valley and made it a fief. A year later, Lugano's freedoms were first documented in a series of statutes modeled on those of Como. The town was able to secure complete independence.

Lugano during the Renaissance and Enlightenment

Between 1433 and 1438 the Duke of Milan, Aloisio Sanseverino sat as a feudal lord over Lugano. He compensated the Rusca family with the ownership of Locarno. Under the reign of his heirs in the following decades rebellions and riots broke out, which lasted until the French invasion of 1499.
It was the object of continuous disputes between the Dukes of Como and Milan until it became a Swiss dominion in 1513. Swiss control lasted until 1798 when Napoleon conquered the Old Swiss Confederation and created the Helvetic Republic.
In 1746, the Agnelli brothers opened the first printing press and bookshop in Lugano. They began publishing the newspaper Nuove di diverse corti e paesi in 1748 and changed its name to Gazzetta di Lugano in 1797. The newspaper was widely read in north and central Italy. It supported the cause of the later Jansenists against the Jesuits and therefore was banned in 1768 in the territory of the Papal States. It was open to the themes of enlightened reform and the American Revolutionary War. It was the first newspaper in the Italian language to publish an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence of 1776. After the death of Abbot Gian Battista Agnelli in 1788, who had been the editor for more than 40 years, Abbot Giuseppe Lodovico Maria Vanelli took over the paper. Under Abbot Vanelli, it supported the revolutionary ideas from France, which drew protests from the Austrian government in Lombardy. The publication of the magazine ceased abruptly after edition number 17 of 29 April 1799, following the anti-French riots in Lugano during which the Agnelli printing house was sacked and Abbot Vanelli was shot.
Under the Helvetic Republic, Lugano became the capital of the Canton of Lugano.

Canton of Lugano

The canton of Lugano unified the former Landvogteien of Lugano, Mendrisio, Locarno and Valmaggia. However, as with the other cantons of the Helvetic Republic, the autonomy of Lugano was very limited, the republic having been founded by Napoleon in order further to centralise power in Switzerland. The canton was led by a Directory of five members, who appointed a "national préfet".
The canton was deeply divided between "patriots" supporting the Cisalpine Republic, and traditionalist "aristocrats". By 1799 riots broke out in Lugano, and the second préfet, Francesco Capra, fled the town. Power passed to a provisional government sympathetic to the Habsburgs. However, French occupation was restored in 1800. Discontent continued and in early 1802 a revolt in Capriasca led to the autumn pronunciamento of Pian Povrò, which declared the independence of Lugano from the Helvetic client republic.
With the Act of Mediation, the following year, political agitation was finally quelled, as were the struggles between unionists and federalists. The canton of Lugano merged with Bellinzona creating the canton of Ticino, which endures to the present day.

19th century

After 1803, the political municipality of Lugano was created. One of the primary tasks of the new city government was to determine the division of property and authority between the patriziato and the new political municipality. Two agreements between the two organizations, in 1804 and 1810, began this process. In the second half of the 19th century, the political municipality received various properties and rights from the patriziato. Francesco Capra, the préfet during the Helvetic Republic, became the first mayor of Lugano from 1803 until 1813. The cantonal constitution of 1814, set Lugano, Bellinzona and Locarno as capitals of the Canton. They each served as the capital in a six-year rotation. Lugano was the capital in 1827–33, 1845–51 and 1863–69.
In the 19th century, the city government was dominated by the Liberal Party. In 1900, slightly more than half of the seats on the city council were held by Liberals. Most of the rest of the seats were held by either Conservatives or Socialists.
The city government initially had eleven members, but in 1908 their number was reduced to five and in 2004 increased to seven. Throughout most of the 20th century, the Liberals held the absolute majority here as well. The rest of the municipal executive posts were held by the Conservatives, the Socialists and the Ticino League.
Around 1830 new civic and government buildings began to emerge in Lugano. The town also began to expand into the surrounding hills, along the Cassarate, and toward Molino Nuovo, Paradiso and Castagnola. In 1843–44 the city hall was built on the site of the Bishop's Palace. It housed the cantonal government in 1845–51 and again in 1863–69. Since 1890, it has housed the city government. The promenade was built in stages: first part was in the 1870s, a second in the first decade of the 20th century. In the first decades of the 19th century, the roads that connect Lugano with Bellinzona, Ponte Tresa and Chiasso were built. In 1848 the first steamboat on Lake Lugano began to operate, with regular, scheduled service since 1856. The construction of the Melide causeway between Melide and Bissone in 1844–47 favored the development of the Chiasso-Bellinzona-Lugano-Gotthard line at the expense of the north–south route along Lake Maggiore. This tendency for development was strengthened further in 1882 with the completion of the Gotthard railway line. The railway station was built in 1874–77 in Lugano, and transformed it into one of the main links between northern Italy and central and northern Europe, which led to the development of tourism and in general helped the services sector.

Modern Lugano

From the mid-19th century to 1970 the town recorded constant population growth, especially between 1880 and 1910, when the population more than doubled. This increase was partly due to foreign nationals settling in Lugano and people from other language areas of Switzerland. In the last three decades of the 20th century, the population fell slightly, despite the merger in 1972, of the municipalities of Castagnola and Brè-Aldesago. This reflected a trend to move away from the town to the suburban communities.
However, in 2004 the municipalities of Breganzona, Cureggia, Davesco-Soragno, Gandria, Pambio-Noranco, Pazzallo, Pregassona and Viganello were incorporated into the municipality. In 2008, they were followed by Barbengo, Carabbia and Villa Luganese. This, among other factors, resulted in a doubling of the population to 52,059 in 2006, of which over a third were foreigners. In 2013 the municipalities of Bogno, Cadro, Carona, Certara, Cimadera, Sonvico and Val Colla were incorporated into the municipality.
Following the Second World War, and particularly during the 1960s and 70s, thanks to an abundant flow of capital from nearby Italy, Lugano was the first host-city of the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest. Lugano experienced a period of exponential growth in banking activities which led to it placing itself as the third financial centre of Switzerland, with over 100 banking institutions present in the town. Trade, tourism and finance are the mainstays of the local economy. In 2000, nine-tenths of the workers were employed in the services sector, of which three-quarters are commuters, including many cross-border commuters.
In 1975, the Congress Center was built followed in 1978 by the new City Hospital. In 1963 the town acquired the land for the airfield Lugano-Agno, and the first scheduled flights was in 1980. At the beginning of the 21st century they began the Grande Lugano projects, including: the car tunnel Vedeggio-Cassarate, which started in 2005 and connects the A2 motorway with the neighborhood of Cornaredo, the creation of a new Kulturpol on the site of the former Grand Hôtel Palace and a convention and exhibition center in the area of Campo Marzio.
In June 2011, officials of the Israeli town of Yehud announced they would undertake a massive construction project to replicate Lugano's old square in the center of their town, to reinvigorate commerce and tourism. The replica will be replete with neoclassical columns and colonnades.

Geography and climate

Topology

The municipality Lugano lies at the edge of Lake Lugano, which is situated between the lakes Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como, south of the Alps. It lies at the heart of the Sottoceneri, that part of the canton of Ticino that lies south of the Monte Ceneri Pass.
The town centre is located on the lake shore just to the west of where the river Cassarate enters the lake. The town's waterfront forms a crescent around the bay between the Brè and the San Salvatore mountains.
Because of the historical development of the town, incorporating some relatively distant suburbs but leaving other, nearer, suburbs as independent municipalities, the borders of the town are disparate. A large and sparsely populated section of the town is on the east bank of Lake Lugano and separated from the town by that lake. Similarly, the inner-urban but independent municipality of Paradiso is a near-enclave, totally surrounded as it is by the municipality and the Lake Lugano.
Based on the 1997 land survey, the municipality Lugano has a total area of. Of this area, or 10.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 21.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, or 14.0% is settled, or 0.1% is either rivers or lakes and or 0.4% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 9.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.0%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.2%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 0.5% is used for growing crops and 9.4% is used for alpine pastures. Almost all the water in the municipality is in lakes.

Climate

Lugano has a rare humid subtropical climate for the latitude, closely bordering on a subtropical oceanic climate due to the warmer average being 22 °C. Although the US National Academy of Sciences considers a sea-like climate, the vegetation is from the subtropics with deciduous forest. It is characterized by relatively mild winters and warm humid summers. It has an average of 98.1 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives of precipitation. The wettest month is May during which Lugano receives an average of of rain, while the driest month of the year is February with an average of of precipitation over 4.6 days.
Located on a plains in southern Switzerland and protected by the Alps and lakes, the climate is one of the mildest in the country, most similar to northern Italy. In addition, the precipitation is lower than in many other places as well as the deviations of temperature. Lugano is also one of the sunniest Swiss cities. The greatest precipitates anticipate and succeed much of the summer. Winter freezing temperatures are more common on the night of January, but the low temperatures remains are rare and do not occur every year. Much of the summer is pleasant, but warm days above of the 30 °C are not uncommon.
The highest temperature recorded in Lugano is, recorded in July 1945, whilst the lowest temperature recorded being, recorded in February 1929.
about 8.64% of the population) did not answer the question.

Politics

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, a cross throughout argent, between the upper case serif letters L, V, G and A. The coat of arms dates from around 1200. The four letters on the coat of arms are an abbreviation of the name Lugano.

Quarters and circles

The municipality is subdivided into 25 quartieri which are grouped into three circles.
Quarters 1–9 are the older quarters of the town, which have been added to by successive enlargements of the municipality in 2004, 2008 and 2013; these enlargements involved previously independent municipalities becoming parts of the municipality.
QuartierNo. BFS-CodeDate joined LuganoFormer municipalityCircle
Aldesago151920011972Brè-AldesagoEast
Besso25192002––West
Brè351920031972Brè-AldesagoEast
Caprino451920041972Castagnola-CassarateEast
Cassarate551920051972Castagnola-CassarateEast
Castagnola651920061972Castagnola-CassarateEast
Centro75192007––West
Loreto85192008––West
Molino Nuovo95192009––West
Breganzona1151920112004BreganzonaWest
Cureggia1251920122004CureggiaEast
Davesco-Soragno1351920132004Davesco-SoragnoNorth
Gandria1451920142004GandriaEast
Pambio-Noranco1551920152004Pambio-NorancoEast
Pazzallo1651920162004PazzalloWest
Pregassona1751920172004PregassonaEast
Viganello1851920182004ViganelloEast
Barbengo1951920212008BarbengoWest
Carabbia2051920222008CarabbiaWest
Villa Luganese2151920232008Villa LuganeseNorth
Cadro2251920242013CadroNorth
Carona2351920252013CaronaWest
Sonvico2451920262013SonvicoNorth
Val Colla2551920272013Cimadera, Certara, Bogno, ValcollaNorth
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Elections

Cantonal

In the Grand Council of Ticino election, there were a total of 27,557 registered voters in Lugano, of which 15,214 or 55.2% voted. 237 blank ballots and 38 null ballots were cast, leaving 14,939 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLR which received 3,680 or 24.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the Lega, the SSI and the PS.
In the Council of State of Ticino election, 158 blank ballots and 79 null ballots were cast, leaving 14,980 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the Lega which received 3,839 or 25.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLR, the PS and the SSI.

National

In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the Lega which received 20.6% of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the PLR, the PPD, PS, the UDC, and the Green Party. In the federal election a total of 15,639 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 46.6%.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the PLR which received 26.6% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Lega, the PPD and the PS. In the federal election, a total of 11,980 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.8%.

Demographics

Since its union with some surrounding municipalities in 2004, 2008 and 2013, Lugano has a population of and is therefore canton's largest town. The expansion in 2004 was the second major expansion after the union in 1972 with the municipalities of Brè-Aldesago and Castagnola., 38.1% of the population do not hold Swiss citizenship and 14,778 or 23.2% of the population was born in Italy. In 2013, among the Swiss population, 24.3% are Luganesi, 21.7% from anywhere else in the canton of Ticino, and 15.6% from other cantons in Switzerland.
The town's economy provides an estimated 38,000 jobs, over a third of which are occupied by cross-border commuters. Business, tourism and finance constitute the backbone of the local economy. In 2000, the tertiary sector offered 90% of all jobs in Lugano, of which 75% were occupied by commuters, many of which commute from neighbouring Italy ; in the same year tax revenues reached CHF 104 million, of which CHF 59 million were attributable to the banking sector. The town is Switzerland's third largest banking centre after Zürich and Geneva. With regards to intercommunal financial equalisation, thanks to its financial strength Lugano contributes significantly to the equalisation fund. The population is Italian-speaking and mainly Roman Catholic.
Between 1997 and 2007, the population changed at a rate of 6.9%. Most of the population speaks Italian, with German being second most common and Serbo-Croatian being third. Of the Swiss national languages, 20,998 people speak Italian, 1,855 speak German, 597 people speak French, and 39 people speak Romansh. The remainder speak another language.
, the gender distribution of the population was 47.1% male and 52.9% female. The population was made up of 15,457 Swiss men, and 10,461 non-Swiss men. There were 19,417 Swiss women, and 9,725 non-Swiss women.
In there were 318 live births to Swiss citizens and 190 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 351 deaths of Swiss citizens and 92 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 33 while the foreign population increased by 98. There were 7 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 672 non-Swiss men and 556 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 was an increase of 197 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 706 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.7%.
The age distribution,, in Lugano is; 4,666 children or 8.5% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 5,013 teenagers or 9.1% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 6,270 people or 11.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 8,267 people or 15.0% are between 30 and 39, 9,113 people or 16.6% are between 40 and 49, and 6,844 people or 12.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 6,459 people or 11.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 4,947 people or 9.0% are between 70 and 79, there are 3,481 people or 6.3% who are over 80.
the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 19.1% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent.
, there were 23,168 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2. persons per household. there were 489 single family homes out of a total of 2,372 inhabited buildings. There were 214 two family buildings and 1,046 multi-family buildings. There were also 623 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings.
The vacancy rate for the municipality,, was 0.64%. there were 16,333 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 5,398. There were 1,811 single room apartments and 2,019 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 13,342 apartments were permanently occupied, while 2,485 apartments were seasonally occupied and 506 apartments were empty., the construction rate of new housing units was 3.3 new units per 1000 residents.
the average price to rent an average apartment in Lugano was 1073.49 Swiss francs per month. The average rate for a one-room apartment was 623.12 CHF, a two-room apartment was about 809.81 CHF, a three-room apartment was about 1030.53 CHF and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1890.13 CHF. The average apartment price in Lugano was 96.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF.

Historic population

The population of the original town of Lugano is given in this chart:

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ImageSize = width:1020 height:210
PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100
AlignBars = justify
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:55000
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bar:1710 from:start till:2320 text:"2,302"
bar:1783 from:start till:3761 text:"3,761"
bar:1850 from: start till:5939 text:"5,939"
bar:1870 from: start till:6836 text:"6,836"
bar:1888 from: start till:8185 text:"8,185"
bar:1900 from: start till:10847 text:"10,847"
bar:1910 from: start till:14988 text:"14,988"
bar:1930 from: start till:17672 text:"17,672"
bar:1950 from: start till:21448 text:"21,448"
bar:1970 from: start till:27121 text:"27,121"
bar:1990 from: start till:25334 text:"25,334"
bar:2000 from: start till:26560 text:"26,560"
bar:2010 from: start till:54667 text:"54,667"

Religion

From the, 18,035 or 67.9% were Roman Catholic, while 1,517 or 5.7% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 4,714 individuals who belong to another church, and 2,294 individuals did not answer the question.

Economy

, Lugano had an unemployment rate of 5.59%., there were 77 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 28 businesses involved in this sector. 3,520 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 420 businesses in this sector. 33,601 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 3,877 businesses in this sector. There were 12,191 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 45.9% of the workforce.
, there were 28,174 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,994 workers who commuted away. Lugano is the economic center of the region and draws about 7.1 workers into the municipality for every one leaving. About 12.4% of the workforce coming into Lugano are coming from outside Switzerland, while 1.6% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work. Of the working population, 15.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 44.6% used a private car.
, there were 43 hotels in Lugano with a total of 1,584 rooms and 2,889 beds.
The airline Darwin Airline, operating under the brand name Etihad Regional since January 2014, has its head office on the grounds of Lugano Airport in Agno, near Lugano.

Tourism

Lugano is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Switzerland. The town is home to a number of historic buildings and museums, whilst the surrounding area has many natural sights.
Both Lake Lugano and the surrounding mountains provide a wide variety of outdoor activities. The area surrounding Lugano is home to over of mountain biking trails, the largest net of trails in Switzerland.

Heritage sites of national significance

There are 17 sites in Lugano that are part of the Swiss heritage site of national significance. The town of Lugano, the districts of Barbengo, Brè, Gandria and Biogno, and the sites of Cantine di Gandria and Castagnola are all part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
The heritage sites of national significance include two libraries, the Biblioteca Cantonale and the Biblioteca Salita dei Frati as well as the Swiss National Recording Archives. There were three churches; Cathedral of San Lorenzo, Church of Santa Maria degli Angioli and the Church of San Rocco.
There were three museums; the, the and the Villa Ciani complex with the 'Museo civico. The cemetery complex at via Trevano is also one of the sites, as is the Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana Italian-language broadcast facility. The rest of the sites are notable houses throughout the town. They include; the Palazzo civico at piazza della Riforma, the Palazzo e cinema Corso at via Pioda, the Palazzo Riva at via Francesco Soave, the Palazzo Riva at via Massimiliano Magatti, the Palazzo Riva at via Pretorio 7 and Villa Favorita in Castagnola.

Natural sights

A very popular destination in Lugano is Lake Lugano. The lake is in size, 63% of which is in Switzerland and 37% in Italy. It has an average width of roughly and is nearly at its widest. The maximum depth of the lake is. The water is generally warm with average water temperatures in the summer ranging from to.
Several companies, including the Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano, provide tourist boat services on the lake. A popular excursion is by SNL boat to the picturesque lakeside village of Gandria. Additionally there are numerous shipyards, water taxis and boat rental sites along the lake, as well as hotels and restaurants that offer moorings. Bathing in the lake is allowed at any of the 50 or so bathing establishments located along the Swiss shores.
In addition to the lake, Lugano is surrounded by mountains, which provide a number of opportunities for sports or sightseeing. Two mountains, both providing excellent views over the town and lake, bracket each end of the town's waterfront. Monte Brè, to the north, is reputedly Switzerland's sunniest spot and is also home to the old village of Brè. Monte San Salvatore, to the south, has an old church and museum atop its summit. Both mountains are accessible by funicular railways, which are themselves easily accessible by frequent town bus or by car.
Slightly further afield is Monte Generoso, with a view that encompasses the lakes of Lugano, Como and Maggiore, as well as the Alps from the Matterhorn to the Bernina Range, the Lombardy Plains, and, on a clear day, the city of Milan. The summit can be reached by taking either an SNL boat, or a railway train, to Capolago, and changing there onto a rack railway train of the Monte Generoso Railway.

Buildings

Museums

In Lugano about 63.7% of the population have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education.
In Lugano there were a total of 7,931 students. The Ticino education system provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten and in Lugano there were 1,356 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 2,280 students attended the standard primary schools and 129 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 1,932 students in the two-year middle school and 47 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 884 students were in the four-year advanced program.
The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship. There were 492 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 722 who attend part-time.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 89 students in the professional program., there were 3,537 students in Lugano who came from another municipality, while 887 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Lugano is home to 2 libraries. These libraries include; the Biblioteca universitaria di Lugano and the Biblioteca cantonale Lugano. There was a combined total of 448,811 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 51,740 items were loaned out.
Some of the schools and colleges in Lugano include:

Air

Lugano is served by Lugano Airport, in the nearby municipality of Agno. Currently, only Silver Air and Swiss Airlines operate to Lugano Airport. While there is limited service to Lugano's airport, Milan's airports are not that far away and provide access to a greater number of worldwide locations.

Railways

is situated on the historically and concurrently important Gotthard railway line, which links northern Switzerland with Ticino and Italy. Long-distance trains of the Swiss Federal Railways, together with international trains of Trenitalia, connect Lugano with the cities of northern Switzerland and with southern Milan.
Since the inauguration of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in 2016 train connections between cities in Northern Switzerland, such as Zürich, Luzern and Basel, and cities in the south, such as Bellinzona, Lugano, and Milan got even closer – they almost entirely circumvent the Alps.
In the future, connections to Bellinzona and the northern Swiss cities will even further improve with the opening of the Ceneri Base Tunnel in 2020.
A two-hourly RegionalExpress RE connects Lugano with the local towns and villages on the historic Gotthard route with the northern ones on the other side of the Ceneri, such as Bellinzona and Biasca, where the fast trains enter the world's longest railway tunnel in order to underpass the Alps, and further up through the Valle Leventina up to Airolo and through the old Gotthard Tunnel to the German-speaking northern villages in Uri as far as Erstfeld.
Lugano is also served by several lines of regional trains of the Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia network which operate in the canton of Ticino and northern Lombardia, Italy.
Since August 2018 TILO's S50 connects Bellinzona and Lugano with Malpensa Airport once every hour with a travel time of 1:45h from/to Lugano.
The S10 service connects Lugano once every half hour with the local towns and villages on the historic Gotthard route between southern Chiasso and northern Bellinzona.
The RegionalExpress RE10 connects Lugano and Chiasso with Milano Centrale railway station in addition to the international long-distance trains in order to provide a fast connection once every hour; sometimes prolonged upwards to Bellinzona and Airolo, or even Erstfeld.
Additionally, the metre gauge Lugano-Ponte Tresa Railway connects Lugano as the S60 from platform 11 outside the main building with the regional Lugano Airport and Ponte Tresa.
From April until mid October, the tourist oriented Gotthard Panorama Express connects Lucerne with Lugano once a day via boat on the Lake Lucerne and then per train over the historic Gotthard route through the old, higher situated Gotthard Tunnel.
Lugano is also served by three funicular railways. The Funicolare Città–Stazione, which has recently been renewed, is a short line connecting Lugano railway station to the lower town centre at the lake, whilst the Funicolare Monte Brè and the Funicolare Monte San Salvatore ascend nearby hills to vantage points.
A fourth funicular, the Funicolare degli Angioli, still exists but has not operated since 1986.

Road

Lugano is located along the A2 motorway, a part of the European route E35 which over between Amsterdam and Rome.
The Trasporti Pubblici Luganesi operate frequent inner town buses throughout Lugano and some of its closer neighbours.
The Autolinee Regionali Luganesi runs buses connecting Lugano with the districts of Davesco, Sonvico and the towns of Canobbio, Lamone and Tesserete, whilst the Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano runs buses to the district of Gandria and Campione d'Italia. TPL, ARL and SNL services operate from the Lugano Centro bus station.
Longer distance buses, as well as some local buses, are operated by PostBus Switzerland, known locally as the AutoPostale. Its Palm Express service connects Lugano railway station to St. Moritz. Other AutoPostale buses operate from an underground bus station and ticket office, located at Via Balestra 4 in the centre of Lugano.
ASF Autolinee, an Italian bus company, operates an international bus route from Lugano to Menaggio, on the shores of Lake Como.

Shipping

Boats of the Società Navigazione del Lago di Lugano provide services on Lake Lugano. Whilst these are principally provided for tourist purposes, they also connect Lugano with other lakeside communities. Several of the landing points are within the sparsely populated section of the municipality that lies on the east side of lake, and have no road access.

Culture

Lugano hosts the Swiss National Sound Archives, responsible for safeguarding the sound heritage of Switzerland.
The Palazzo dei Congressi is the performing arts center for Lugano. It is a main venue for the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.
The Lugano Festival runs during April and May, followed by the related "Progetto Martha Argerich" in June. Estival Jazz arrives in July. Between July and August there is the , one of the greatest urban open air happenings in Switzerland. During one month, the LongLake offers over 300 events in downtown Lugano.

The Blues-to-Bop Festival arrives in late August and early September turns the town into a hive of activity as thousands crowd the streets and piazzas for free open-air concerts.
In 1956, the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest.
The MASI has two parallel objectives: the conservation and study of the Museum's permanent collection, which is above all made up of works belonging to the 19th and 20th centuries; and the planning and presentation of temporary exhibitions. It focuses on art of the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden and present artists from the region on a regular basis.
The district of Brè-Aldesago offers its visitors charming corners created by its characteristic stone buildings. The cobble stone streets of the town offer art enthusiasts an artistic path that is very interesting both because of the presence of national and international "names" and the combination of art and the environment.

Sports

plays in the National League. They play at the Resega arena and have won seven national titles, having participated twice in the European Cup final round and once in the top four final in Euroleague. In 1991, Lugano reached the final of the famous Spengler Cup and twice reached third place in the IIHF Continental Cup Superfinal.
FC Lugano plays in the Swiss Super League. They play at the Stadio Cornaredo and won the Swiss title in 1938, 1941 and 1949 and the Swiss Cup in 1931, 1968 and 1993.
The Stadio Cornaredo is the largest stadium in Lugano, with space for 15,000 people. It hosted the Italy-Belgium match at the 1954 FIFA World Cup. According to some sources, Lugano is the smallest town ever to hold a World Cup match. Around the soccer field there is a gravel lane used during athletic contests and that, outside of official match and training hours, can be used by joggers free of charge. Next to the stadium are three small training fields. There are also two artificial grass fields: one for field hockey and one for soccer. There is also a skate park next to the stadium.
BC Lugano Tigers plays in the Swiss National League A. They play at the Elvetico gym, won the Swiss Cup in 2011 and have been Swiss LNA Champions in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2010.
Lugano annually hosts the racewalk Gran Premio Città di Lugano Memorial Albisetti and the Ladies Open Lugano, an International level WTA tennis tournament. The town hosted the 1953 and 1996 UCI Road World Championships, as well as the 18th Chess Olympiad.

Notable people

People born in Lugano

; Middle Ages
; 19th C
; 20th C
; 19th C
; 20th C