Langstrasse () is a

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

and quarter in

district 4 District 4 can refer to: * District 4, Düsseldorf, in Germany * District 4, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia * District 4 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam * District 4 (New York City Council), in the United States * IV District, Turku, in Finland *Aus ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Langstrasse begins near the district courts and extends north-northeast to the train tracks of

Zürich Hauptbahnhof Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. It is a major railway hub, with services to and from a ...

. The following short segment of Langstrasse leads towards Limmatplatz in

Industriequartier Industriequartier is a district in the Swiss city of Zurich. Geography The district comprises the quarters Gewerbeschule and Escher Wyss. Together with today's District 4, the district formed the formerly separate municipality of Aussersih ...

(district 5). Langstrasse is also referred to as a general area including the street and its surrounding tertiary streets. The quarter has a population of 10,500 on an area of 1.13 km². It is notorious as Zurich's

red light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are partic ...

, with an above-average

crime rate In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

drug dealing The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

and

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

s. It is also the most overtly

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

spot in Zurich, with a rate of 42% foreign residents, among the highest in Zurich. Due to the problems in this district, the City Council approved the comprehensive project "Langstrasse PLUS" on 14 March 2001 to achieve an improvement in public order and safety. As the historical quarter of factory workers during

Industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

Aussersihl Aussersihl is a district in the Swiss city of Zürich. Known officially as District number 4, the district is known as colloquially ''Chreis Cheib'', ''cheib'' being the Zürich German word for an animal cadaver. It earned the name as the area h ...

is also the traditional center of

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

agitation in Zurich, the Helvetiaplatz on Langstrasse being a traditional site of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

manifestations. Langstrasse is currently undergoing a process of

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

in certain areas, spurring public debate both in the quarter and city-at-large regarding its social, spatial, and economic future.

Festivals

;Langstrassenfest: The ''Langstrassenfest'' (eng. Longstreet Festival) is an important part of the Langstrasse PLUS campaign. It has been taking place every two years since 1996, and counted about 270'000 visitors in 2004. In the years without a Langstrassenfest, the Longstreet Carneval takes place. The Langstrassenfest is organised by Swiss citizens. ;Longstreet Carneval: If there is no Langstrassenfest, the ''Longstreet Carneval'' takes place. This Carneval is organised by non Swiss citizens. ;Caliente: The Caliente Festival is the biggest Latin Festival in all of Europe. It counts over 130'000 visitors in the year 2006. ;Open-Air-Cinema: Every summer during July/August an open-air cinema is installed at the Kanzleiareal near the Helvetiaplatz. LangstrassePano

References

External links

Langstrassenquartier
District 4 of Zurich Streets in Zurich Red-light districts in Switzerland {{Zurich-geo-stub