Lugano

Lugano^{? /i} (Lombard Lügàn [lyˈgaŋ, lyˈgeɲ], German obsolete Lauis, Rhaeto-Romanic Ligiaun^{? /i}) is a city and political commune in the Lugano district of the Swiss canton of Ticino. It is located in the Sottoceneri and is the largest in the canton. It is divided into the districts of Lugano West, Lugano East and, since 2013, Lugano North.

The city is the third largest financial centre in Switzerland after Zurich and Geneva. Since the incorporation of Pregassona (2004), then Barbengo, Carabbia and Villa Luganese in 2008 and of Bogno, Cadro, Carona, Certara, Cimadera, Sonvico and Val Colla in 2013, Lugano is the seventh largest Swiss city in terms of area, ninth in terms of population and tenth in terms of jobs available.

The letters LVGA in the coat of arms stand for the first letters of the town's name. The town is the largest Italian-speaking political municipality outside Italy.

Location

The town lies in the south of the district of Lugano and the canton at the mouth of the River Cassarate in Lake Lugano. Lugano, as a university, congress and cultural city (especially between spring and autumn), attracts numerous visitors from Italy and from beyond the Alps.

In the statistical spatial category defined by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Lugano was assigned to the metropolitan region of Ticino, which was newly downgraded to the multipolar agglomeration system. This comprises several agglomerations in Ticino and Lombardy with a total population of over 500,000. Together with Como-Chiasso-Mendrisio, it is a neighbouring agglomeration of the metropolitan region of Milan (Grande Milano) with around 7.5 million inhabitants. The centre of Milan can be reached by car and train in about an hour.

Geography

Lugano lies on Lake Lugano (Italian: Lago di Lugano, in Italy: Lago Ceresio) and is surrounded by the three panoramic mountains Monte Brè (925 m) to the east, Monte San Salvatore (912 m) to the west and Sighignola (1314 m) (on the opposite shore of the lake), whose peak Balcone d'Italia is already on Italian soil.

The neighbouring municipalities are Arogno, Melide, Morcote, Vico Morcote, Grancia, Collina d'Oro, Sorengo, Muzzano, Bioggio, Massagno, Savosa, Porza, Vezia, Canobbio, Capriasca and Ponte Capriasca, and on Italian territory Valsolda, Campione d'Italia, Alta Valle Intelvi and Brusimpiano.

Climate table

With an annual mean of 12.4 °C for the period 1981-2010, Lugano, together with Locarno and Grono, is one of the warmest places in Switzerland.

Lugano

Climate diagram

J F M A M J J A S O N D     66   7 1     52   9 2     80   13 5     156   16 8     196   20 12     164   24 15     153   27 18     158   26 17     185   22 14     142   17 10     127   11 5     80   7 2 Temperature in °C, precipitation in mm Source : www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch

 

Monthly average temperatures and precipitation for Lugano Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature (°C) 6,6 8,5 13,0 15,8 20,2 24,2 26,9 26,1 21,7 16,7 11,3 7,4 Ø 16,6 Min. temperature (°C) 0,8 1,6 4,9 7,9 12,1 15,4 17,8 17,4 13,9 10,0 5,1 1,7 Ø 9,1 Temperature (°C) 3,3 4,5 8,3 11,4 15,7 19,6 22,1 21,5 17,5 13,0 7,9 4,3 Ø 12,5 Precipitation (mm) 66 52 80 156 196 164 153 158 185 142 127 80 1559 Sunshine hours (h/d) 4,0 4,9 6,0 5,7 6,0 7,4 8,2 7,8 6,2 4,5 3,7 3,5 Ø 5,7 Rainy days (d) 5 5 6 11 13 10 8 10 8 9 8 6 99 Humidity (%) 70 65 61 66 70 68 66 69 73 78 72 70 Ø 69 Temperature 6,6 0,8 8,5 1,6 13,0 4,9 15,8 7,9 20,2 12,1 24,2 15,4 26,9 17,8 26,1 17,4 21,7 13,9 16,7 10,0 11,3 5,1 7,4 1,7 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec   Precipitation 66 52 80 156 196 164 153 158 185 142 127 80   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source : www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch

Urban quarters

Quarters 1-9 are the old city quarters that already belonged to the city before the large incorporation of 2004. Quarters 11-18 are the areas of the municipalities that merged with Lugano in 2004. The quarters 19-21 were added by the incorporation of 2008, the quarters 22-25 by the incorporation of 2013.

Quartier	No.	BFS code	Population31 December 2015	Incorporation
Aldesago	1	5192001	504	1972
Besso	2	5192002	4964	- –
Brè	3	5192003	351	1972
Caprino	4	5192004		1972
Cassarate	5	5192005	3425	1972
Castagnola	6	5192006	2044	1972
Centro	7	5192007	5017	- –
Loreto	8	5192008	2932	- –
Molino Nuovo	9	5192009	9058	- –
Breganzona	11	5192011	5240	2004
Cureggia	12	5192012	170	2004
Davesco-Soragno	13	5192013	1605	2004
Gandria	14	5192014	224	2004
Pambio-Noranco	15	5192015	732	2004
Pazzallo	16	5192016	1552	2004
Pregassona	17	5192017	9268	2004
Viganello	18	5192018	6990	2004
Barbengo	19	5192021	1970	2008
Carabbia	20	5192022	599	2008
Villa Luganese	21	5192023	556	2008
Cadro	22	5192024	2312	2013
Carona	23	5192025	865	2013
Sonvico	24	5192026	1945	2013
Val Colla	25	5192027	682	2013

Aerial photograph from 800 m by Walter Mittelholzer (1919)


Lugano quarters


View at Monte San Salvatore over Lugano at night


The city centre lies on the shores of Lake Lugano, with Monte Brè in the background.