Bern, Basel and Zurich want to stem the tide of newspaper boxes

The cities of Berne, Basel and Zurich want to put a stop to the proliferation of distribution boxes for free newspapers. Instead, a collection box system similar to a letterbox system is planned, where each newspaper will have its own but uniformly designed compartment. As reported by the Bund, this decision was made at a meeting of representatives from the cities of Zurich, Bern and Basel. There are various reasons why those responsible are annoyed by the now numerous newspaper boxes: they all differ in shape and color and would thus impair the cityscape and the work of the cleaning services. Their anchoring in the asphalt also destroyed the road surface. The city association is responsible for the design of the planned collection box system. The costs for construction and installation, however, are to be borne by the newspaper publishers. "They currently pay an annual fee of 500 francs for each box," Beat Hofer, deputy head of Bern's civil engineering inspectorate, told the federal government. "Whether the new stands can be financed via this fee or whether the costs are to be paid separately has not yet been decided." But the timetable is clear: the collection boxes are to be installed in a year's time.

The use of such a newspaper box collection stand is also planned in Basel, as Raffael Poller, deputy head of the urban design department for public spaces, told Werbewoche when asked. "A prototype is currently being developed in Zurich. It is an unfinished system with a heavy but mobile base. The required number of boxes can be hung in it," said Poller. His department in Basel has been tasked with developing a "functionally and aesthetically satisfactory" solution for the newspaper boxes. It will be based on the concept from Zurich, but its own attempt still has to be approved by the cityscape commission. Once this has been done, the publishers of the free newspapers will be contacted. The concept should be available at the beginning of 2008.