Rivera TI, Canton of Ticino, Switzerland

🇨🇭 Rivera is a former municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The municipalities of Medeglia, Bironico, Camignolo, Rivera and Sigirino merged on 21 November 2010 into the new municipality of Monteceneri.

History Rivera is first mentioned in 1296 as Sorenzino. In 1348 it was mentioned as Rivera.

Archeological objects and graves from the Iron Age and the Roman era have been found in Rivera. In the Middle Ages, Rivera was part of the valley community of Carvina. In the 13th century Como Cathedral possessed estates in Sorencino. Starting in 1678, representatives from the twelve members of the Swiss Confederation in Ticino met in Casa dei landfogti before they assembled in Lugano.

Rivera was a member of the parish of Bironico, before it became an independent parish in 1754. From 1779 until 1793, the parish church of S. Spirito was rebuilt.

The villagers earned their living from agriculture, mostly in alpine meadows and pastures. During construction of the Ceneri tunnel in 1872–82, the population increased sharply. The completion of the road in 1811 and the construction of the tunnel and the station led to the emergence of a new district in the flatter part of the valley. This area forms the northern boundary of the agglomeration of Lugano. The base station of the Monte Tamaro gondola opened in 1972 in Rivera.

Geography Rivera has an area, as of 1997, of 13.35 square km (5.15 sq mi). Of this area, 0.95 km² (0.37 sq mi) or 7.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 10.17 km² (3.93 sq mi) or 76.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.38 km² (0.53 sq mi) or 10.3% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.08 km² (20 acres) or 0.6% is either rivers or lakes and 0.71 km² (0.27 sq mi) or 5.3% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 3.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.5%. Out of the forested land, 64.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.1% is used for growing crops and 3.7% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 4.6% is unproductive vegetation.

The village is located in the Lugano district, in the upper Vedeggio valley along the old main road. It consists of the village of Rivera and the hamlets of Soresina, Sorencino and Capidogno.

Demographics Rivera has a population (As of December 2004) of 1,462. As of 2008, 20.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997-2007) the population has changed at a rate of 6.4%.

Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks Italian (88.6%), with German being second most common (4.8%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (2.2%). Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000), 68 speak German, 28 people speak French, 1,253 people speak Italian. The remainder (66 people) speak another language.

As of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The population was made up of 613 Swiss men (38.5% of the population), and 172 (10.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 660 Swiss women (41.4%), and 149 (9.3%) non-Swiss women.

In 2008 there were 16 live births to Swiss citizens and 6 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 7 deaths of Swiss citizens and 1 non-Swiss citizen death. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 9 while the foreign population increased by 5. There were 2 Swiss men who immigrated back to Switzerland and 2 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 44 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 7 people. This represents a population growth rate of 3.3%.

The age distribution, as of 2009, in Rivera is; 146 children or 9.2% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 153 teenagers or 9.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 217 people or 13.6% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 227 people or 14.2% are between 30 and 39, 286 people or 17.9% are between 40 and 49, and 231 people or 14.5% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 155 people or 9.7% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 110 people or 6.9% are between 70 and 79, there are 69 people or 4.3% who are over 80.

As of 2000 the average number of residents per living room was 0.61 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m2 (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 45.3% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).

As of 2000, there were 581 private households in the village, and an average of 2.4 persons per household. In 2000 there were 294 single family homes (or 68.4% of the total) out of a total of 430 inhabited buildings. There were 76 two family buildings (17.7%) and 23 multi-family buildings (5.3%). There were also 37 buildings in the village that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).

The vacancy rate for the village, in 2008, was 0.14%. In 2000 there were 649 apartments in the village. The most common apartment size was the 4 room apartment of which there were 217. There were 30 single room apartments and 178 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 574 apartments (88.4% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 49 apartments (7.6%) were seasonally occupied and 26 apartments (4.0%) were empty. As of 2007, the construction rate of new housing units was 5.2 new units per 1000 residents.