The City of Lugano has filed its application to obtain and operate .lugano, a new Internet top-level domain directly associated with the city. ICANN, the international organisation that coordinates the domain name system, published the application under the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, the first application window since 2012, fourteen years after the previous round.

Like .ch, .com or .org, .lugano would form the final part of an Internet address. If the application succeeds, the City will be able to build, over time, a recognisable and trustworthy digital space in which the name of Lugano identifies the services of the municipal administration and, progressively, other local organisations, under rules set by the City itself.

The stated goal goes beyond creating new addresses. The domain would let the City govern the digital space that carries its name, deciding who may use it and under what conditions: a way to make the link with Lugano immediately recognisable and to protect the use of the city’s name inside the .lugano space.

The rollout will be gradual. In a first phase the domain may be used for services and organisations directly tied to the City; later it may open to businesses, associations, cultural and sports organisations, academic institutions and others with a concrete link to the area. The rules of use and strategic choices will remain the City’s responsibility, while the technical operation of the domain may be entrusted to specialised operators.

The application is part of the City of Lugano’s digital strategy and its aim to strengthen its ability to govern digital infrastructure and services securely and autonomously. The domain will not replace existing tools: lugano.ch will remain the City’s institutional website and MyLugano will continue as the platform connecting citizens, businesses and local services.

The point is not simply to have one more Internet domain, but to take responsibility for how the name of Lugano may be used and promoted online as well. With .lugano we want to create a recognisable and trustworthy space, built on clear rules and in the interest of the city and its territory.

Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano, quoted by Vivere Lugano on 8 October 2026

For municipal secretary Robert Bregy, .lugano can become, over time, a trusted infrastructure of the digital city: a space where citizens, businesses and institutions immediately recognise reliable services, information and contacts, a trust meant to hold also for the digital services and intelligent agents that will increasingly interact on people’s behalf.

Publication of the application is not approval: any assignment will depend on ICANN’s subsequent evaluation phases. access criteria, requiring a verifiable link with the territory, will be defined before any opening of registrations.

Lugano follows a path already taken by other cities: Paris, Berlin and New York operate .paris, .berlin and .nyc respectively, while in Switzerland the Canton of Zurich operates .zuerich. The 2026 ICANN round drew 1,615 applications: a two-week replacement period has run since 8 October, and on 17 November 2026 ICANN will publish the updated list of strings admitted to the next stage. Only a positive outcome will allow .lugano to move toward activation.