Allgemeine Baugenossenschaft Zürich (ABZ)

The cooperative's purpose is to provide and maintain affordable, healthy, and sustainable housing for its members through mutual self-help and shared responsibility, and to promote the cooperative ideal and thus the coexistence of diverse social groups and individuals in the spirit of social responsibility and mutual solidarity. It seeks to achieve this purpose in particular through: a) acquiring building land, building rights, and existing residential buildings; b) constructing residential properties; c) appropriate and up-to-date maintenance of existing buildings; d) promoting cooperative activities within the housing developments; e) providing non-material and material support to initiatives that aim for affordable and sustainable housing. The cooperative's activities are charitable and not profit-oriented. The cooperative may participate financially in companies and organizations in Switzerland with the same or similar objectives.

ABZ in brief

ABZ is a non-profit housing cooperative with over 5,000 apartments in the city and greater Zurich area. We are open to everyone and see ourselves as a vibrant and diverse community where respect, tolerance, and appreciation are valued.

ABZ builds and operates in a socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable manner. We prioritize people, not profit. Furthermore, we are committed to cooperative principles: Our members, as collective owners, participate in decisions on fundamental issues and thus jointly support the cooperative. ABZ's Solidarity Fund supports, among other things, social, cultural, and environmental projects.

How ​​the Solidarity Fund Works

Acting in solidarity means standing up for one another and helping each other. ABZ lives and promotes solidarity on various levels: among residents, members, and employees, as a purpose and value of our institution, and towards third parties. The ABZ Solidarity Fund embodies this: Every ABZ household contributes CHF 5 or more per month. Residents vote on how a portion of these funds is used. The ABZ Board allocates a smaller portion.

These are the projects we support:

The ABZ Solidarity Fund supports social, cultural, and environmental projects directly related to housing or promoting non-profit housing and the cooperative model. Projects must be non-profit or based on solidarity principles and can take place in Switzerland or abroad. We support both small and large projects.