RES Ostermundigen

Ostermundigen is part of the first suburban belt around the city of Bern. Due to its central location, good accessibility, and attractive surrounding landscape, the municipality is under significant development pressure. In a cross-departmental working process and in exchange with the interested public, a Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) was developed. To preserve the landscape, promote sustainable local development, and optimize public investments, priority is given to inward development.

The SDS, formulated under the guiding themes “More city requires more village” and “More village requires more city,” along with six guiding principles including fields of action and instructions on settlement, open spaces, mobility, and community, demonstrates how densification can create quality and added value for the population while ensuring social and spatial stability.

Inward development is applied very precisely at important but complex locations. A central focus is strengthening the Bernstrasse axis as the municipality’s main traffic artery. Through targeted densification of the first building depth, specific requirements of this urban space can be addressed, consciously utilizing opportunities such as visibility, accessibility, and traffic frequency. At intersections with neighborhood axes, urban nodes emerge as meeting points, hubs, and landmarks. Significant public land ownership ensures active management of the development of these “central construction sites” by the municipality.

Existing identities are reinforced through the SDS. Between the train station and the Bern city district Galgenfeld, Ostermundigen is an urban neighborhood with mixed uses, cooperative housing, and a new city park. In the town center, Ostermundigen is a small town with finely subdivided, high-density building structures. Peripheral areas and green residential neighborhoods without renovation needs are considered “quiet zones.” Here, Ostermundigen retains its village character.