Taking the economic temperature in a wealthy cosmopolis


Anecdotal observations from the Zurich Street Parade 08



11-aug-2008



So, what might an annual outdoor techno party have to offer to the
quest for economic indications? 

Let us consider the Zurich Street Parade. This is an annual event held
here in Zurich, often considered the world's largest outdoor techno party. 
The event has significant support from the municipal and cantonal governments, 
and for a whole day the city centre shuts down, most of the streets fill
with hundreds of thousands of people in outrageous constumes, and mobile 
disc-jockey platforms parade through the city to their final positions as the
kernels of a dozen or more independent outdoor discotheques in squares and
boulevards of the central parts of town. People come from all over europe,
and indeed all over the world, for this one day event. Every hotel room anywhere
near the city is booked that night, every bar and restaurant and nightclub
filled past capacity. If you came to Street PArade this year, you would not have
been disappointed. 
But if you'd seen it a year ago, you would notice some very glaring differences. 
The crowds were not as densely packed, not by a long shot. During the
midday and afternoon parade of the music platforms, the crowds were very 
noticeably lighter in contrast to the previous year. Compared to the previous
year the mix of languages heard quas quite different as well. Much more english
and german and almost no french, less italian, almost no scandinavian 
languages, very little spanish, and very little russian. Fewer japanese
than last year. In short, the crowd was lighter and had not traveled as far. 

Directly related to this was the situation in the Burkliplatz (the very heart
of the even where a platform is erected for the main DJ of the event to
spin in the night) which matched. The crowd was considerably thinner, the 
predominant languages were german, english, and some italian, there were 
very commonly large gaps in the crowd, and only one block away from the
Burkliplatz in either direction (towards Enge or towards Bellevue) the crowds 
thinned out to the point of there being wide open spaces. 

The amount and sort of rubbish on the ground differed significantly as well: 
last year by night's end, the Burkliplatz was thickly carpeted in cans and
bottles from alcohol of all sorts. This year, right up to the end, there was
no trouble finding a litter-free area to dance, and only the gutters and area
up against other objects (trees, fountains, walls, etc) had any real 
accumulation. There was by portion a much larger quantity of plastic
containers than last year, and overall the indication was of more nonalcoholic
beverages, much less wine or liquor, considerably less beer, and much less
variety in all of the above. 

The way the night closed also was telling. In 2008, the DJ stopped spinning
at midnight and the crowd basically scattered. In 2007, the DJ was petitioned 
by the (much larger) crowd to continue, spun another couple of tracks, and 
the crowds were still lingering an hour later in most of the center, in patches
and groups. 

Another observation is the change in sponsorship. Last year, the primary
sponsors of the event beyond the city and cantonal governments were Swiss
companies, and the sponsorship was low-key. a logo here and there and that
was it. This year, the primary corporate sponsorship, at least visibly, 
was the US carmaker Ford, and the degree of brand-waving was so intense as to
be offensive. Ford cars were set up on platforms here and there in the 
main centers of the Burkliplatz and the Belleue/operahaus area, and the
large video screen playing on the Burkliplatz was running Ford averts
(and some others) during the music! The screen was larger and brighter than
last years, and much more imposing. 

What to make of this anecdote? 
Here we have one of the wealthiest cities in the world, putting on a spectacle
that historically draws attendance from around the planet and heavy attendance
from throughout Europe. Historically corporations which call Zurich home
have happily contributed large sums to ensure the event was a success.. and 
we see in a single year the attendance of the event drop to the point of 
being impossible to ignore, the consumption and spending of those who did
attend change noticeably - in decline - and the sponsorship that the event
organizers did manage to obtain was much more aggressive, intrusive, and
generally less desirable. The preferred sponsorship mush have been feeling
quite a pinch to not be able to come forward this year as they have in the past. 
Not to mention the missing visitors. Many people swarmed to Switzerland a
month ago for the Euro football championships- did they spend out their
travel budgets for the year? 

The affluence in Zurich often borders on the absurd. It is a small city
but the typical idea of this city is that the river Limmat runs with money. 
This would be the last place one would expect to see the belt being tightened,
right? or not? 
Almost all of the wealth and prosperity of this town depend on the business
of finance. Banks and Insurance companies crowd out everything else, sometimes
even including the residents, and bring in an incredible balance of foriegn
exchange. But in the past year, these industries, the banks in particular,
has been plagued by severe losses left and right. UBS admitted to losses in
excess of 45 billion francs. Credit Suisse lost at least 4 billion. Scandals
and rumors rocked Julius Baer. How many other banks and financial operations
had as rough a year with less publicity? How quickly did the city's party 
mood dry up with even a little bit of the cashflow pinched? how big
is the pinch?








This file and all other content on the VAXpower.org site copyright 2008 by G. Economou