The City of Geneva is creating and renovating dog parks

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To meet the constantly increasing requirements, the City of Geneva has expanded the number of dog parks.

Three sites have been created on the northern shore while seven areas have been renovated across the entire municipal territory. More than 10,000 dogs are officially registered within the municipality, making the latest developments essential in adapting the infrastructures to the demand.

Managed by the Parks and Gardens Service, these spaces serve to demarcate the areas reserved for dogs in order to avoid conflict with other users of municipal space. In total, 13 enclosed areas and 13 more open areas are now available to the population. 

Better distribution between the northern and southern shores

The three new enclosed areas can be found in Parc Geisendorf, Parc Saint-Jean (above Quai du Seujet) and in rue Soubeyran, all of which are neighbourhoods where demand is high. A fourth area, located in the Cropettes-Montbrillant sector, is currently under discussion between the City and the associations concerned. Furthermore, three existing areas are being renovated on the northern shore (Parc Liotard, Maison de la Concorde and Promenade des Crêts), with a further four being renovated on the southern shore (Parc des Falaises de Champel, Parc Belmont, Parc des Contamines and Parc Eglantyne-Jebb, formerly Parc des Acacias). 

Renovation adapted to the sites

The renovation work will bring the gates and fences up to standard while installing benches, bins and the necessary signs. These signs will display the rules of use, i.e. that dogs must always be under the control of their owners and can in no event be left alone.

Owners must also ensure that their dogs do not cause any damage. In certain areas, new paths have been created. In order to provide more shade, numerous trees have also been planted, surrounded by a protective guards.

Due to its severe state of disrepair and its increased use, the dog park in Parc Eglantyne-Jebb is undergoing specific work to expand the area, create patches of greenery and replace the wood chips by means of a new porous surface consisting of a mixture of gravel and grass. 

Collaborative developments

These developments follow in the wake of a credit of almost 1 million francs voted by the Executive Council in 2019. A successful collaboration between the City of Geneva and the dog owners associations, launched in 2018, helped identify the sites and prepare standard specifications for the enclosed areas.

A study was then conducted with the aim of distributing the number and locations of these areas around the different districts, in particular focussing on land availability. “The collaboration with the associations concerned and the resulting discussions helped ensure that the new amenities reflected the needs of the inhabitants and the neighbourhoods as closely as possible,” explained a delighted Alfonso Gomez, Executive Councillor responsible for the Environment. Delayed by the pandemic, the work began this year and will be completed in June. 

Full list of the 26 dog parks in the City of Geneva available on the Places open or prohibitted to dogs page.