City Case Study: Vienna

Vienna along the Danube River (Christian Lendl)

The Austrian capital of Vienna is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and classical music legacy. The city also boasts efficient public transportation and a plethora of public spaces that are hubs for social interaction and recreation.

Since the 19^th century, the city has demonstrated a strong commitment to social housing, with significant efforts made to provide affordable homes in the interwar and post-war periods. In recent decades, Vienna has also intensified efforts to address climate change and harness technology to create a smart city that sustains its residents’ high quality of life.

Building for Resilience, Building for Community

Vienna’s creation of the New Danube and Danube Island, its construction of renewable energy plants through public financing, and its Grätzloase (neighbourhood oasis) programme are some of the examples that highlight the city’s continuous efforts to take a long-term view, build for resilience and engage with the community to enhance liveability for all.

Faced with frequent flooding of the Danube River, Vienna embarked on a plan in 1969 to excavate a 21-km-long flood control channel known as the New Danube. The excavated soil was used to create Danube Island, a long and narrow artificial island that was designed to reinforce Vienna’s flood protection system.

Completed in 1988, the New Danube was designed to handle flood volumes of up to 14,000 m³ of water per second. The channel runs alongside the Danube River and can be activated by weirs to absorb excess water during floods, thus enhancing Vienna’s resilience against major flood events. For example, the New Danube helped to minimise damage from record torrential downpours in July 2021.

In addition to its flood control functions, the New Danube was designed as a large waterbody that could be used for water sports, while Danube Island was planned as a large public park with forested zones. Today, both are popular lifestyle destinations for leisure activities and events, including a free music festival held annually. The New Danube and Danube Island project demonstrates the value of foresight and long-term thinking in creating a liveable city that is not only climate resilient, but also prioritises the needs of the community.

The city continues to be forward-looking in its plans for Danube Island. In 2018, it initiated a project to expand the green spaces on the island and install a wind-powered ditch irrigation system. Such measures will help to decrease up to 20% of the island’s carbon emissions and contribute towards Vienna’s goal of being carbon neutral by 2040.

Community greening initiatives in a neighbourhood in Vienna include the implementation of compost bins, which decompose organic material that can then be used as natural fertiliser for plants in the neighbourhood (Centre for Liveable Cities)

Collective Shaping and Stewarding Places

To address climate change and meet its sustainability goals, Vienna actively engages the community in its plans. For instance, in the last 10 years, the public has helped to finance the construction of 4 wind turbines and 28 solar power plants. More than 11,000 individuals have invested over €39 million (about S$57 million) into the latter, which have produced over 60,000 megawatts of renewable energy and reduced at least 17,000 tonnes of carbon emissions so far. These collectively owned plants reflect Vienna’s efforts to nurture collective stewardship, allowing the community to contribute towards renewable energy while benefitting financially through annual dividend payouts.

Partnering with the community is also fundamental to Vienna’s urban planning process. For example, the city initiated the Grätzloase (neighbourhood oasis) programme in 2015, allowing citizens to apply for funding of up to €4,000 (about S$5,800) to revitalise public spaces within their communities. Through this programme, residents have turned parking lanes into green parklets and organised neighbourhood street festivals and other events. To ease the application process, the city has implemented an online portal for residents to submit a single application form, instead of having to seek separate approvals from multiple government agencies. This demonstrates how Vienna leverages technology to actively engage the community as stakeholders in shaping public spaces that all can enjoy.

Preparing for Future Challenges

While Vienna has been successful in ensuring a high quality of life for its residents, its population growth in recent years is likely to pose challenges on liveability. Vienna is currently the 5^th largest city in the European Union, with its population reaching more than 2 million people in 2023. This creates pressure on policymakers to uphold its longstanding commitment to social housing while also conserving Vienna’s green spaces, which comprise about 50% of the municipal territory. The city will have to navigate an increasing demand for housing affordability while prioritising sustainable development.

The city is also facing the need to further strengthen its climate resilience and become carbon neutral. Towards achieving these goals, it aims to double the generation of renewable energy in its metropolitan area by 2030 and reduce carbon emissions from the transport sector by 100% by 2050.

Vienna’s demonstrated capacity to partner with the community, think long term and build for resilience place it in good stead to meet future challenges while sustaining a high quality of life for its residents.