Wangen bei Olten

Coat of arms

Wangen bei Olten

Location of Wangen bei Olten

Coordinates: 47°21′N 7°52′E / 47.350°N 7.867°ECoordinates: 47°21′N 7°52′E / 47.350°N 7.867°E

Country

Area

• Total

6.96 km² (2.69 sq mi)

Elevation

417 m (1,368 ft)

Population (Dec 2015)

• Total

5,088

• Density

730/km² (1,900/sq mi)

Postal code

4612

SFOS number

2586

Surrounded by

Hauenstein-Ifenthal, Kappel, Olten, Rickenbach, Trimbach

Twin towns

Traben-Trarbach (Germany)

Website

www.wangenbo.ch
SFSO statistics

Wangen bei Olten is a municipality in the district of Olten in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.

The construction of a 6 meters (20 ft) high minaret in Wangen in 2005 led to a constitutional ban on their construction on 29 November 2009.

The contention involved the Turkish cultural association, which applied for a construction permit to erect a minaret on the roof of its Islamic community centre. The project faced opposition from surrounding residents, who formed a group to prevent the tower's erection. The Turkish association claimed that the building authorities improperly and arbitrarily delayed its building application. They also believed that the members of the local opposition group were motivated by religious bias. The Communal Building and Planning Commission rejected the association's application. The applicants appealed to the Building and Justice Department, which reverted the decision and remanded. As a consequence of that decision, local residents (who were members of the group mentioned) and the commune of Wangen brought the case before the Administrative Court of the Canton of Solothurn, but failed with their claims. On appeal the Federal Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court. The 6-metre (20 ft)-high minaret was eventually erected in July 2009.

Wangen bei Olten has an area, as of 2009^[update], of 6.96 square kilometers (2.69 sq mi). Of this area, 1.71 km² (0.66 sq mi) or 24.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.69 km² (1.42 sq mi) or 53.0% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.52 km² (0.59 sq mi) or 21.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.02 km² (4.9 acres) or 0.3% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 2.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 12.1% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.4% of the area. Out of the forested land, 51.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.3% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 15.7% is used for growing crops and 7.3% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

...
Wikipedia