In Switzerland, over 85% of people are now cremated. This is a sharp shift from nearly zero just a century ago.
The impact? Space.
Urn burials take up far less land and cemeteries are starting to “empty out”. Green space is opening up faster than cities can rethink how to use it.
But this isn’t just about urban planning, it’s about culture. Preferences are changing: 24% of cemetery visitors and 41% of non-visitors now prefer a burial outside of traditional cemeteries. The old system and infrastructure we built for death no longer fits the new reality of how we want to be remembered.
Death is evolving. Our cities are following.
Source: Klingemann (2024), OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying. DOI: 10.1177/00302228241263133