Canton of Obwalden: observed built density
Canton · 7 municipalities with parcel data · Parcel data as of July 2025
- Parcels
- 17’323
< 1 % of Switzerland
- Municipal zones
- 197
- Median utilization
- 42 %
Switzerland: 10 %
- Median GFZ
- 0.10
Switzerland: 0.09
- Median height
- -
Switzerland: 9.5 m
- Median floors
- 2.3
Switzerland: 2.3
About Canton of Obwalden
The parcel data covers 7 municipalities of the canton of Obwalden: 17’323 parcels in 197 municipal zone records. The municipalities with the most parcels are Sarnen, Kerns and Engelberg.
The median parcel is built to a volume utilization of 42 %; half of the parcels lie between 6 % and 109 %. The Swiss median is 10 %, so Obwalden sits above it.
Parcels built in the last 20 years reach a mean volume utilization of 170 % (2’098 parcels), lower than the 213 % across all building years.
Parcels by municipal zone
| Zone | Parcels | Median utilization |
|---|---|---|
| Landwirtschaftszone | 5’832 | - |
| Wald | 1’528 | - |
| Zweigeschossige Wohnzone B | 1’339 | - |
| Zweigeschossige Wohnzone A | 1’146 | - |
| Dreigeschossige Wohnzone | 437 | - |
| Zweigeschossige Wohnzone | 422 | 102 % |
| Übriges Gebiet | 418 | - |
| Dorfzone | 348 | - |
| Wohnzone 2-Geschosse | 346 | 91 % |
| Alpwirtschaftszone | 342 | - |
| Wohnzone 2 Geschosse | 253 | 87 % |
| Wohnzone 2-3 Geschosse | 242 | 83 % |
| Other zones (118) | 4’670 | - |
Zone labels are municipal spellings, so one zone type can appear under several names.
Volume utilization (ratioV)
Of the 17’088 parcels with a value, half lie between 6 % and 109 %. The median is 42 % and the mean 175 %.
Share of parcels by range
- below 50 %53 %
- 50 % to below 100 %19 %
- 100 % to below 150 %12 %
- 150 % and above16 %
Floor-area ratio (GFZ)
Of the 17’083 parcels with a value, half lie between 0.05 and 0.48. The median is 0.10 and the mean 0.31.
Share of parcels by range
- below 0.5076 %
- 0.50 to below 1.0017 %
- 1.00 to below 1.504 %
- 1.50 and above2 %
Building height
The parcel data has too few values for this measure here.
Number of floors
Of the 7’710 parcels with a value, half lie between 1.8 and 3.1. The median is 2.3 and the mean 2.4.
Share of parcels by range
- below 214 %
- 2 to below 344 %
- 3 to below 540 %
- 5 and above3 %
Building age cohorts
Mean volume utilization of the parcels built inside each window, from all years on record down to the last five. The windows overlap: the last 20 years include the last 5.
| Built in | Parcels | Mean utilization |
|---|---|---|
| All years | 17’323 | 213 % |
| Last 60 years | 7’260 | 222 % |
| Last 40 years | 4’770 | 183 % |
| Last 20 years | 2’098 | 170 % |
| Last 15 years | 1’414 | 171 % |
| Last 10 years | 886 | 181 % |
| Last 5 years | 375 | 176 % |
Municipalities of the canton of Obwalden
How to read this page
room shows observed built density: what has been built on the parcels, not what the zoning permits. Volume utilization (ratioV) compares the built volume of a parcel with the reference volume of its municipal zone type. The floor-area ratio (GFZ) is floor area divided by parcel area; building height and number of floors are taken from the buildings on a parcel. Figures pool all municipal zones of the area. Medians and quartiles are read from bins 10 points (ratioV), 0.1 (GFZ), 2 m (height) and 1 floor wide, so they are exact to within one bin; means are exact. A parcel counts in a distribution only when the parcel data has a value for it. The floors distribution leaves out parcels without a building (0 floors).