This is how Switzerland uses its territory (Swiss Press Online 2020, by Duc-Quang Nguyen) - Swiss Press Award
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Duc-Quang Nguyen
The political year of 2019 kicked off with a topic that is very important to the Swiss: the preservation of the landscape. With the petition for a referendum against urban sprawl, which was rejected on 10 February, four further proposals were pending which were directed against concreting or in favour of preserving biodiversity. How better to explain the impact of settlements, infrastructure and leisure activities, than with an interactive and entertaining map showing the actual share occupied by the different land-use categories in Switzerland? Duc-Quang Nguyen and Mathieu Rudaz took on this challenge for 24Heures. With the use of pixels, each representing four square kilometres, they created a visual representation, revealing that the areas intended for housing construction and infrastructure, scattered throughout Switzerland, added together would cover the triangular area stretching from Geneva to Vevey, and extending to La Chaux-de-Fonds. This comprises 8 % of Swiss territory, which is below the European average (11 %). Agricultural areas and forests each make up about a third of the national territory, and golf courses (35 km2) take up more space than public parks.
Interview with Duc-Quang Nguyen
