Zurich is located in the heart of Europe and is an important economic, cultural and social centre of Switzerland. With its unique location on Lake Zurich, the Alps on the horizon, the numerous local recreation areas and its urban diversity, the city offers an attractive environment to live and work.
Zurich offers excellent sports and leisure activities as well as a unique and diverse cultural offering. The infrastructure – from waste management to public transport – is also excellent. In terms of quality of life, the city repeatedly achieves top positions in international rankings. And the population also regularly gives its city top grades in surveys.
Zurich is a lively and dynamic small metropolis. More than 430,000 people from around 170 nationalities live in Switzerland’s largest city. More than three out of ten Zurich residents do not have a Swiss passport. Zurich is proud of this diversity of mentalities and lifestyles, of its cosmopolitanism and the fruitful coexistence of different nationalities and cultures.
Zurich is Switzerland’s economic leader and known worldwide for its financial district. But other very innovative economic sectors flourish in the region. Zurich has established itself as an important centre for ICT, life sciences, cleantech as well as creative industries and tourism. Numerous international companies have set up headquarters and research centres here. In addition to Switzerland’s economic and political stability, Zurich’s high quality of life and proximity to excellent universities are convincing.
These not only make valuable contributions to new developments and technical progress with their cutting-edge research but also produce very well educated talents who shape the economic landscape as employees or company founders. Particularly in the vicinity of the ETH and the University of Zurich, internationally successful spinoffs and startups are being founded.
As a municipality, Zurich enjoys considerable decision-making freedom and autonomy in the Swiss political system. The electorate can vote on bills and laws and elect officials. They are thus significantly involved in shaping the policies of the city of Zurich.
The administration is made up of nine departments and the associated service departments. The administration is headed by the city council, elected by the people, with its nine members.