Swiss Review 1/2020

Swiss Review / January 2020 / No.1 11 In the eyes of Ticino state councillor Norman Gobbi, the inability of the smallest municipalities to guarantee a working administration is proof that there is no way past a targeted merger policy. A municipality the size of Corippo is no longer able to autonomously provide impor- tant services that are expected by its citizens nowadays. Water supply and canalisation cost millions. “Like many other municipalities, Corippo had to face up to this real- ity,” says Gobbi. The merger of municipalities has been expedited for decades for this very reason. In 25 years, the number of mu- nicipalities in Ticino has fallen from 245 to 115. “Under the cantonal merger plan, we are seeking to reduce this num- ber to 27municipalities over the long term,” says Gobbi. The same process is happening across the country. Nationwide, the number of municipalities fell from 2,899 to 2,255 be- tween the year 2000 and spring 2017. Some cantons such as Glarus have made a clean sweep: 25 local communities were reduced to three municipalities in 2011. There is a downside to this development, though. Sceptics are wor- ried that people’s connection with their own municipali- ties of residencewill be furtherweakened by the formation of these large associations. Back to Corippo: in the old parsonage at the church, one of the locals speaks plainly: “People no longer want to speak with journalists as they have twisted our words.” It is a fact that, in the last few years, numerous media professionals have visited the village in the valley of Verzasca after it got out that a hotel village would be built there. Reports have even appeared in the New York Times. A television team from the BBC also roamed through the place. But what is actually in the pipe- line? Some of the old stone houses, known as Rustici, are to be converted into hotel rooms. The Osteria is to be- come a reception area where guests can also eat their meals. “Albergo dif- fuso” or “scattered hotel” is a concept that has already been implemented in several old settlements in Italy. Corippo would be a pioneer in Swit- zerland. Fabio Giacomazzi is an architect, urbanist and president of the Corippo Foundation, which is driving the ho- tel project and bought a dozen old stone houses years ago for this pur- Tiny and extremely picturesque – at least from a distance. The Alpine village of Corippo in Valle Verzasca, Ticino. Photo: Keystone Reproduced with the consent of swisstopo