In the village center of the municipality of Dielsdorf, development and densification are to be made possible. To this end, together with Planwerkstadt (lead) and BRYUM, we participated as one of three teams in a test planning. The task required a special examination of Dielsdorf as a village with a rural character, as a district capital with a central function and as a place to live and work in the Zurich agglomeration.
The starting point of the design approach is the question of how places like Dielsdorf will change in the next decades. It can be assumed that Dielsdorf, with its relatively strong regional center function, intact mix of uses and strong identity, will gain in importance. This will also include strengthening regional connections: There must be more local production, trade, and general interaction. Under these signs, we interpret the task of the center park as an opportunity to think Dielsdorf further in its functionality as a whole: the block interiors, the “second row”, could become the driver and place of new developments, while the main streets retain and expand their current function. The “shopping T” will be complemented in the medium term by a “self-sufficiency O”, where functions such as local food distribution, sustainable and local hospitality or education will be strengthened at the local level. This “circuit” can be realized gradually with relatively few interventions and specified in a participatory process. In it, the Zentrumspark plays the role of a place of exchange and offers for this purpose an open space that meets the requirements of the 21st century: Productive, interactive, dynamic, social and diverse. So it is not so much the size of the park that matters, but its interconnectedness with the rest of Dielsdorf and the density of experiences that are offered.
