Zurich metropolitan area


The European Metropolitan Region of Zurich, also Greater Zurich Area, the metropolitan area surrounding Zurich, is one of Europe’s economically strongest areas and Switzerland’s economic centre.
It comprises the area that can be reached within a roughly 80-minute drive from Zurich Airport. Home to many international companies, it includes most of the Canton of Zurich, and stretches as far as the Aargau and Solothurn in the west, Thurgau, St. Gallen and parts of Grisons in the east, Schaffhausen in the north and Zug and parts of Schwyz and Glarus in the south. Roughly three million people live in the area.
The Swiss federal office for statistics defines an unofficial metropolitan area as including all areas where more than one twelfth workforce commutes to the core area.
According to the 2000 Swiss census, this includes a total of 220 municipalities in seven cantons: 127 in the canton of Zurich, 58 in Aargau, 11 in Schwyz, 10 in Zug, 9 in Schaffhausen, 3 in Thurgau and 2 in St. Gallen. The area covered by these municipalities is 2103 km², inhabited by a population of 3.8 million.
Numerous Swiss and international corporations are based in the area, profiting from benefits such as
The , a nonprofit organization, is the marketing association for the Greater Zurich Area business region. It recruits international companies abroad and assists them with setting up companies and making investments in the Greater Zurich Area. Its sponsor is the Stiftung Greater Zurich Area Standortmarketing, a public-private partnership that was established in November 1998. Since that time, its membership has grown to include the cantons of Glarus, Grisons, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Ticino, Uri, Zug and Zurich, the cities of Zurich and Winterthur, several businesses and universities. Switzerland and the Greater Zurich Area have the prerequisites for innovation and sustainable growth. This is due to political stability, a large talent pool and the ETH Zurich as one of the best universities in Europe. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, Disney, ABB, Biogen, Johnson & Johnson and Roche operate important research and development sites in the Zurich metropolitan area.
Important Industries:
The association is responsible for the business network and location promotion in the immediate vicinity of Zurich Airport. Large companies are headquartered in the Zurich Airport Region: Swissport International, Gategroup, Dormakaba, :de:SV_Group|SV Group, :de:SR_Technics|SR Technics, :de:Hotelplan|Hotelplan, Hewlett-Packard Switzerland, Flughafen Zürich AG, :de:Jumbo_|Jumbo, UPC Switzerland, Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland, Edelweiss Air, CSC Switzerland, Canon Switzerland, :de:Qualipet|Qualipet, , Infosys Consulting, Microsoft Switzerland, Ricoh Switzerland, Tchibo Switzerland, Vifor Pharma .
The following eleven municipalities belong to the Swiss economic metropolis "Zurich Airport Region": Bassersdorf, Bülach, Dietlikon, Dübendorf, Kloten, Nürensdorf, Oberglatt, Opfikon, Rümlang, Wallisellen and Wangen-Brüttisellen. In the broader sense, many other communities and cities belong to the airport region of Zurich. The office of the association with over 500 members is located in Opfikon-Glattbrugg. Christoph Lang heads the office. René Huber is the president of the association's board.