Since 2016 corresponds the perimeter of the cross-border agglomerations Basel and Geneva to the perimeters as they were defined by the FSO in 2012. The perimeter of Geneva counds in total 200 municipalities, 88 are located in Switzerland and 112 are located in France. The perimeter of Basel counts in total 203 municipalities, of which 107 are located in Switzerland, 72 in France and 24 in Germany. Reference for the state of municipalities is: 01.01.2017
These perimeters offer a complete picture of the Geneva and Basel urban areas, thus facilitating international comparison.
The perimeters of the cross-border agglomerations of Basel and Geneva are constituted as follows:
- On the Swiss side: using the agglomeration perimeter supplied by the agglomeration definition of FSO (2000)
- On the French side: using the perimeter denoted as aires urbaines (Geneva: Aire urbaine Genève-Annemasse, Basel: Aire urbaine Bâle-Saint-Louis)
- On the German side: the German portion of the cross-border Basel agglomeration as given by the agglomeration definition of FSO (2000)
Altogether, the Geneva cross-border perimeter contains 191 municipalities (of which 77 are situated in Switzerland). For Basel, the number is 169 (of which 75 are situated in Switzerland) based on municipalities as at 1 January 2012.
First transnational perimeter for Geneva – Espace transfrontalier genevois
The definition in the first cross-border Urban Audit for Geneva was taken from the Observatoire statistique transfrontalier: it was the perimeter of the perimeter Espace transfrontalier genevois.
It consists of the Geneva agglomeration on Swiss territory (Geneva canton and the district of Nyon) together with the Geneva agglomeration’s commuting zone in neighbouring France (Genevois français catchment area, which is part of the French administrative departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie – both bordering on Switzerland).
