Peaks and Plots

Written by Ina Bolotashvili, Elene Kapanadze, Johanna Schweizer and Samuel Tüller, students form Tbilisi State University and the University of Zurich

In both Georgia and Switzerland, the mountainous regions attract many tourists. Anytime this is the case, entrepreneurs will show up, trying to capitalize on the attention of these places. The following shows such a process of mountain building in both countries and points out similarities and differences in the approaches taken.
Bakhmaro is a mountain resort in western Georgia, distinguished by its healing microclimate, authentic appearance and landscape. The development company "Orbi Group" plans to build a huge residential and hotel complex in the Bakhmaro recreation area, covering 14,501 square meters, which will destroy the landscape and unique environment there. Residents have created a petition that states, "This large-scale and ambitious project is against the international principles of cultural protection, natural heritage, and sustainable development. It will undoubtedly cause air pollution and threaten the unique ecosystem of Bakhmaro" (Gordeladze, 2024).
The project is not accompanied by a geological survey, therefore the risks of natural events could not be determined. It is not adapted to the landscape - it is locked in its essence, it creates an internal space and it turns its back on the environment. It is against the primary essence of the master plan to preserve the landscape, and the open views (accentnews, 2024).
The most important detail that emphasizes the government's attitude is the following: Based on this specificity of the resort, according to the decree of the Government of Georgia of May 15, 2019, the construction of multi-apartment houses for "Orbi" is prohibited until 2034. At the same time, the project is presented as a multifunctional facility, but in reality it includes both a hotel and apartments, which is inconsistent with the aforementioned prohibition (Tabatadze, 2024). Georgia has 5 mountain-ski resorts. Four of them (Gudauri, Bakuriani, Mestia, Goderdzi) represent the type of "multi-apartment buildings". Bakhmaro is facing real danger.

Unlike Bakhmaro, the situation is different in Andermatt: For the Andermatt Swiss Alps project, the Canton Uri worked closely with the Egyptian Investor Samih O. Sawiris, as the region hopes to take economic advantage of the project built on land vacated by previous military installations. It was exempt from multiple parts of the building code, namely regulations on foreign investments (BJ 2021) but always kept within environmental laws (Pia 2019, p. 160). "The law stipulates the principle that persons abroad require a permit from the competent cantonal authority to acquire real estate. EU and EFTA nationals are not considered to be persons abroad if they are legally and effectively resident in Switzerland" (Kanton Zürich 2024).

The Andermatt Swiss Alps project spans an area about twice the size of the original Andermatt village and included a lot of work on transportation infrastructure to accommodate the additional traffic expected from the project (Pia 2019, p. 157ff). The construction project has been overseen by environmental officer Beat Hodel since 2009. The protective measures put in place include Emission protection through particle filters, a neutralization plant and a sludge collector for water protection and biodiversity measures. The golf course that was built even received the internationally recognized GEO certificate (Andermatt Swiss Alps 2024).
In conclusion, the examples of Georgia and Switzerland show what consequences landscape change can have. While in Bakhmaro they pay the least attention to the landscape and ecology, in Andermatt they try to preserve it as much as possible.

Bibliography
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