Futuristic Viennese town models innovative city planning

By Thea Dupree

VIENNA – Imagine a town so well planned, you would never have to leave. You don’t have to walk into, say, The Truman Show. That ideally planned municipality is right here on the edge of Vienna.

Seestadt is an experimental town built to achieve social and environmental sustainability with a heavy emphasis on community. The organizing idea is that everything residents might need, including that for their emotional and mental health, should be within walking distance. Cars, therefore, are pushed to the edges. Instead, public transport such as trams, trains and bikes are emphasized. Parking lots are on the periphery, with that space devoted instead to pedestrian walkways and interfaces.

Built on an abandoned airfield purchased by the city of Vienna, Seestadt is striving toward carbon neutrality. Carbon emissions are reduced by using sources for renewable energy such as solar panels and geothermal energy, according to Holcim, a real estate development company in Austria specializing in sustainability.

In Seestadt, for example, an abundance of green spaces ensure that the natural is blended with the built, as well as providing plenty of options for outdoor play, leisure and meeting neighbors. In addition, Seestadt’s housing infrastructure deploys solar power, thermal pumps and better-insulated facades. These were all thoughtfully planned, according to environmental reporter, Kaja Seruga.

Seestadt’s architects, who declined to cooperate for this story, “pulled in so many aspects of the smart city,” Seruga said.

Smart Cities

By smart city, Seruga means that Seestadt is “a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and business,” according to language used by the European Commission. For example, Seestadt residents, like all Viennese, can track their own daily energy consumption using an app developed for that purpose.

Eugene Quinn is a tour guide in Vienna who has offered 80 different walking tours since moving to Austria from England. He has one in rotation now on the “Invisible Smart City.” It is no surprise that he is very interested in the Seestadt experiment.

Quinn applauds all that comes with the term “smart city,” but he doesn’t want it to be off-putting.

“The idea of a smart city is a problematic term because it suggests that some cities are dumb,” Quinn said. “We’ve all got something to learn from each other.”

Seestadt translates to Lake City, which is apt, because it is arrayed around a manmade lake and its small beaches. Nearby are a variety of parks for children and parketts, or outdoor seating areas where in the U.S. parking spots might be. These visually appealing public spaces can be used for dining, leisure, work or whatever a resident desires.

And residents are meant to work together toward the common goal of community.

Taking a page from Amish communities, residents of each building unit or block agrees to devote at least 11 hours per month to the upkeep of the block, Quinn said.

“This means they contribute their time and ideas and skills to each other,” he said. “So, it motivates you for free. It motivates you to bring people into the house who can do everything that you need.”

This type of housing facilitates interdependence.

Geography

Situated on the end of the U2, a line on the Viennese U-Bahn metro system, a stop created for Seestadt, the town comes with a significant commute for anyone working inside Vienna.

“People in Seestadt say ‘Shall we go to Vienna today?’” Quinn said. “So, they don’t really feel themselves part of the city. That’s quite a problem. It’s on the edge of the city, and it is not finished yet.”

But some residents say the distance is actually a benefit. Daniel Mielacher, for example, stated that the distance from central Vienna is precisely why he chose Seestadt.

“[You’re] far enough so you’re not in the inner city, but close enough to be there in reasonable time,” Mielacher said.

Even though Mielacher said he does not have the benefit of social housing, he says he chose Seestadt for the quiet town’s amenities, such as the lake and proximity to necessities such as apothecaries, stores and public transportation.

Seestadt is still being built out, with completion another four years out. Visitors can plainly see the open spaces that will eventually round out the community.

Housing complexes in Seestadt have shops, salons, and stores on the ground floor.
Greenery is often integrated into the housing complexes.
Many buildings are made with repurposed materials from the excavation of the town.
Many playgrounds are found across Seestadt, all made out of natural materials such as wood.
Parketts, or outdoor seating areas, appear where in most residential communities parking spaces would be placed.
Residents spend their days on the beaches of the manmade lake in the center of Seestadt.

Social housing

Seestadt is only one of the many social housing options in Vienna, where one in four residents live in social housing. The term refers to residences and buildings owned by the city and rented out by the city. This makes rent significantly cheaper; there is no profit motive. These low-cost housing complexes include shared spaces that promote communal intimacy, including rooftops, gardens and parks.

Social housing is a big reason Vienna is perennially rated the most livable city in the world, a title given by The Economist magazine. Affordable rent leads to disposable income that tenants can use for leisure, such as vacations, or put into savings. Additionally, because financial stress is less of a factor, those who live in social housing are more likely to pick a job that brings them joy, Seruga said. Her own biography bears this out. She said she would likely be in a corporate job if it weren’t for social housing.

Seruga attributed mostly luck for her ability to get into social housing, though in her assessment everyone has a fair chance of getting a home, with no discrimination against potential residents if they meet the criteria.

Requirements for residents of Vienna to be eligible include residency of two years and placement in the lower 80th percentile of income, according to the City of Vienna.

“I think social housing is an important part of Seestadt not specific to Seestadt but as an extension of these Viennese philosophies,” Seruga said. “It’s kind of a new generation of social housing.”

For more:

Read Seruga’s reporting for the Green European Journal.