Who is responsible for maintaining the quality of the place?

The Canton of Geneva is both landowner and developer of the project. To create the park within an agricultural area, the land had to be rezoned, even though it is used for farming – which made the planning difficult at first. In 2020, Verzone Woods Architectes from Vevey won the competition for Parc des Molliers with their project. In partnership with the municipality of Bernex and local farmers, the canton subsequently realised the eight-hectare public park west of the city of Geneva.

Is the place healthy and comfortable?

The park, which opened to the public in the summer of 2023, is a combination of local recreation area and working farm. Over the next few years, vegetables and berries will be grown, harvested and sold directly from the farm in the southern part of the park. A meadow with fruit trees extends the range of seasonal produce that grow, ripen and can be enjoyed on site. A large lawn for outdoor activities, a children’s playground, picnic areas and a separate area for dogs complete the amenities of the expansive green space.

Does the place promote biodiversity?

A bridge between the rural countryside and the urban agglomeration, the park aims to promote biodiversity by creating an important link for nature between the Rhône and the renaturalised Aire. It also offers shelter for birds, bees, hedgehogs and other small animals. Around 200 new coniferous and deciduous trees have been planted, including both native species and non-native species that can withstand global warming.

Will the place remain attractive in the long term for living, working, leisure and/or tourism?

As part of a densification process that envisages the construction of 1,600 new homes in Bernex, the Canton of Geneva is seeking to reconcile urban development with quality of life. After a long participatory process with the main stakeholders, this eight-hectare park now offers differentiated spaces and is a place of exchange between the population and local agriculture.

Does the place bring different people together?

This vast space is designed to meet the diverse needs of a broad public. It offers places to linger, such as picnic areas and, as of 2024, a café on this urban farm, as well as fields for games and sports. Footpaths and cycleways cross the park from north to south and east to west. Adjacent to the park, on the Goutte de Saint-Mathieu site, training facilities for around 3,000 students will be built by 2027. These young people will also shape the use of the park in the years to come.

Do the green spaces enhance the quality of the place?

The need for local recreation in the city or on the outskirts of settlements is becoming ever more acute in expanding conurbations. The newly created park still looks bare and offers little shade. But this will improve year by year, increasing the attractiveness of this green lung. The unprecedented combination of park and working farm unites the city and the countryside of this small canton.

Does the place foster connectedness with nature and the landscape?

The Canton of Geneva’s desire to create an “agro-urban park” in the Bernex development area demonstrates its openness to new forms of green space. One of the objectives of the park is to raise public awareness of local agricultural production. Seasonal vegetables, fruit and berries ripen on the fields, bushes and trees and are then sold in the urban farm’s own shop. The park thus creates a link with the region in two ways – as a recreational space and as a source of nourishment.

Does the design of the place take the surroundings into account?

The new park is rigorously composed of large rectilinear areas, reminiscent of the neighbouring meadows and agricultural fields. The linearity is interrupted at the entrance to the park by the art installation “Beautiful Bridge”, created by the artist duo Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann. An object somewhere between sculpture and architecture, it serves as a lookout point and may one day also be used as a stage or grandstand. The Parc des Molliers is austere in form but versatile in use.