Urban sprawl is the spatial expression of inefficient use of land and causes collective costs. During the 20th century, it increased steadily in all the Swiss regions, although at different growth rates. Previous studies corroborate the hypothesis that simultaneous municipal autonomy and institutional fragmentation are linked to high urban sprawl in Switzerland. The goal of this paper is to discuss the ongoing redefinition of the respective role of the Swiss municipalities (the local level of government) and the Swiss cantons (the regional level of government) in the framework of the land-use planning policy. This redefinition is the consequence of the revision of the legal framework of 2014. 21 interviews with the cantonal public officials in charge of land-use planning were carried out and 2 municipal–level case studies were realized and compared following the MSDO approach. The preliminary results show that the distinction between qualitative and quantitative aspects of land-use planning is the potential determining factor for the redefinition of the respective roles. While the task of managing the building zones (namely their size and spatial distribution) is currently being centralized from the municipal to the cantonal level in order to cope with urban sprawl, the preservation of the urban quality should be recognized as a crucial municipal task. Urban quality should be seen as a common good and its meaning in a precise context co-constructed by the different local actors: political, economic, professional and the citizens.