The Wakker Price 2023

20 January 2023

The Organisation of Swiss Cultural Heritage (der Schweizer Heimatschutz) awards the Wakkerpreis annually. This organisation awards this price to municipalities with remarkable urban and village development achievements.

The town of Lichtensteig (canton of St. Gall)  has been awarded the Wakkerpreis 2023. For centuries, the town was the prosperous urban centre in Toggenburg. However, the local economy began to falter in the 1970s: hundreds of industry, trade and services jobs disappeared, and the population continued to shrink until recently. Politicians, the population and entrepreneurs developed innovative projects to revitalise the town.

Since then, Lichtensteig has positioned itself as a “Mini.City” (Mini.Stadt), a small countryside town offering relatively cheap office space and residential neighbourhoods. The “Mini.City” strategy is not a short-term project but a long-term process.

The city recently adopted a vision and strategy for the Mini.City development until 2050. The formulated objectives offer opportunities for using the old town and areas on the outskirts and along the main roads.

(Source and further information: (Der Schweizer Heimatschutz)