Forewords
Foreword by Kathrin Gaál
Dear citizens of ,
Dear residents of the WieNeu+ neighbourhood Innerfavoriten,
For the past 50 years, has been successfully pursuing the internationally highly respected approach of “gentle urban renewal”. This has contributed significantly to the quality of life of the people living in the Austrian capital and, hence, has engendered an extremely positive social and economic development dynamic that is reflected in wide recognition.
From the beginning, our efforts focused on the residents of the neighbourhoods up for urban renewal as well as on the aspect of affordability. Consequently, we have always been highly interested in conducting a dialogue with all stakeholders – with tenants and multi-apartment building owners as well as with local businesspeople. Obviously, priorities were different 50 years ago: e.g. improving housing standards by refurbishing old flats without toilets or running water, clearing and then greening dark inner courtyards, creating the possibility of housing / work combos or designing public spaces more attractively as places of encounter.
Now, 50 years later, our focus is on rendering the city climate- and future-proof. A milestone in the practical implementation of our Smart Climate City Strategy was the EU project “Smarter Together – Gemeinsam g’scheiter” in the 11th municipal district Simmering (2016-2021), which led to the WieNeu+ urban renewal programme launched in Innerfavoriten in 2021.
After three years, it is time for an interim stocktaking. I am impressed by the sheer variety of the projects implemented. With the “Grätzlförderung” subsidy scheme, we were able to trigger important refurbishment and renovation impulses, and the “Grätzlmarie” funding pool for neighbourhood projects motivated many residents to make active contributions!
Comprehensive urban renewal does not end at a building’s walls but involves the immediate surroundings as well. It’s all about better quality of life, about affordable housing – and about rendering the buildings of our city fit for the future.
My heartfelt gratitude goes to all those who have joined in and contributed to this programme in so many different ways, since common efforts can open up incredible potentials and opportunities. Thank you!
Yours,
Kathrin Gaál
Foreword by Marcus Franz
Dear citizens of Favoriten,
Dear residents of WieNeu+ Innerfavoriten,
The year 2021 saw the launch of the WienNeu+ urban renewal programme in Innerfavoriten. The objective lay in advancing urban renewal for a climate- and future-proof city in the neighbourhood extending between Landgutgasse, Laxenburgerstrasse, Inzersdorferstrasse and Triesterstrasse, which is home to 35,000 persons.
In this project, it has always been our key concern to take the local residents onboard and to keep them informed and involved. This has succeeded very well with the “Grätzlmarie” idea budget. Overall, 29 projects by residents were implemented for a total subsidy budget of Euro 113,000. These jointly realised activities have strengthened the neighbourhood and, in this way, have improved the quality of life for all.
Moreover, the WieNeu+ area also hosts the unique “Supergrätzl” pilot project. Following a process of extensive citizen participation, its implementation phase was launched in autumn 2023. In the future, local residents and users will find more green spaces, higher quality of outdoor spaces, more safety and less traffic in this Supergrätzl: in addition to the existing 47 trees, as many as 62 newly planted trees and 94 greened areas will render it a much greener part of . Moreover, traffic intersections will be enhanced by means of 11 micro open spaces offering numerous spray mist cooling systems, water features and light-coloured pavement.
WieNeu+ highlights once more the great potential of our district and shows that Favoriten is a dynamic district that is home to many innovative projects. In this spirit, I would like to thank all those who have actively contributed to WieNeu+ so far. Finally, my deep-felt gratitude goes to all staff members who were involved in the project and have done such a great job.
Yours cordially,
Marcus Franz
District Chairman of Favoriten
Foreword by Otto Eckl
Dear readers,
Dear programme partners of WieNeu+,
It is with particularly great pleasure that I may present this report on three years of WieNeu+ programme work in Innerfavoriten.
The WieNeu+ urban renewal programme is domiciled at Municipal Department 25 – Technical Urban Renewal of the City of . It follows in the tradition of gentle urban renewal and continues the innovation process launched with the EU-funded project “Smarter Together – Gemeinsam g’scheiter” in the 11th municipal district Simmering. WieNeu+ contributes to enhancing the local quality of life as well as to the Smart Climate City Strategy Vienna. This is confirmed by the results of the work conducted in the first programme neighbourhood, Innerfavoriten.
WieNeu+ creates and taps synergies through intensive co-operation with other municipal departments on the one hand and with numerous partners from civil society, research and business on the other hand. This produces future-oriented solutions that moreover add significantly to ’s standing in .
On the basis of exemplary projects translated into reality, WieNeu+ enables us and our various partners to illustrate how ’s approach of gentle urban renewal combines climate resilience with quality of life.
My special thanks go to all project partners as well as, in particular, to the entire WieNeu+ team, who work with such great commitment and confidence for the benefit of people in climate- and future-proof neighbourhoods.
With my best regards,
Otto Eckl
Head of Department
City of – Technical Urban Renewal