disproportionate and oversized development projects, most of which were never realized. For example: The construction of a four-lane highway and the urban renewal and reconfiguration of the area to the south of the old town. An inland water transport port with two basins in Aufeld was also envisioned as part of a plan to make the High Rhine and the Aare navigable. A contentious political issue during the 1960s was the incorporation of Lauffohr into Brugg. Over two-thirds of the residents of Lauffohr lived in the rapidly growing neighborhood of Au. It bordered directly on Brugg and was separated from the center of Lauffohr by a large, undeveloped swath of land. The residents of Au gravitated towards Brugg and therefore strived for the fusion of the two communities. A referendum was held in September 1962, with 97 individuals voting for, and 64 voting against, the merger of the two municipalities. Brugg, however, was not overly enthusiastic about the possible fusion – 494 voted in favor, while 409 voted against the proposal. The narrow vote and the strong weight placed upon the independence of communities at the time moved the cantonal parliament not to recognize the results of the referendum. In August 1965, all of the seats in the Lauffohr town council were won by supporters of the fusion and the matter remained topical. In April 1969, another round of referendums was held. In Brugg the final tally was 1095 in favor and 397 against, while the result in Lauffohr was much closer – 113 in favor and 100 against. Meanwhile, the cantonal parliament's position on town mergers had changed during the intervening years and it confirmed the results. The fusion ultimately occurred on January 1, 1970. The 1973 oil crisis resulted in structural changes in the economy and the further development of the service sector. Companies such as Georg Fischer AG moved their production facilities, while others such as Traugott Simmen AG (the most-renowned furniture producer in Switzerland in the 1950s and 1960s) were sold off or shut down. The crisis also killed off the high-flying plans of the economic boom. Only the shopping centers Neumarkt I and Neumarkt II – opening in 1975 and 1982, respectively – and the "Middle Bypass" ("Mittlere Umfahrung"), which was completed in 1980 and relieved the old town from traffic, were actually realized. Twenty-first century Brugg's transition to an important seat of higher education