Vienna: A smart city becomes even smarter

When talking about quality of life, infrastructure and innovation Vienna is among the best cities in the world. To remain in this position in the following years and decades, Viennese city officials count on the Smart City concept.

How a city with great quality of life is getting smart

Seven times in row Vienna has lead the Mercer’s “Quality of Living”-ranking. This means that in 2016 the Austrian capital once again beat over 230 big cities worldwide in a survey that evaluates political, social, economic and environmental aspects. To keep this position in the future, Vienna is implementing a smart city concept that will make the city intelligent, sustainable and goal-driven.

Considering the fact that Vienna faces the challenge of a growing city – it will expand to a three-million-metropolis in the course of the next 25 years – the development of the city towards a smart future is particularly important. Smart technologies will be needed to cope with what is waiting for an expanding city. More people means that the energy demand increases as well as the need for affordable living spaces and sustainable transport concepts. Therefore, the implementation of any kind of smart technologies should always follow the main aim of the Viennese Smart City concept: maintaining and improving citizens’ living standards.

Vienna is following the EU goals of a smart future

For the climate and energy sector the European Union has ambitious goals which they want to reach by 2020. The number 20 plays a central role in the EU’s plans. 20% of the greenhouse gas emission should be cut, 20% of the EU energy should come from renewables and the energy efficiency should improve by 20%. These EU aims for a sustainable European future are also vital for the smart city project in Vienna.

Smart City – “Viennese” Style

Implementing its smart city project, Vienna focuses on three main sectors: resources, innovation and quality of life. You should notice that these three areas are not considered independent ones. They are rather connected and affect each other mutually. To give an example, innovation is a key to increase quality of life as well as to create sustainable cycles of resources. Without innovative ideas and technologies, a smart city concept is not realizable. Now, what are the main aims of Vienna’s Smart City project?

Better use of resources for a more sustainable future

The main aim in the resources sector is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. In order to implement this goal in a sustainable way Vienna is working on different approaches. With the objective of reducing the per capita energy consumption, Vienna is counting, for example, on a renewable energy sources, the improvement of energy standards of buildings, the upgrade of infrastructure as well as green mobility and transport systems.

Investing in quality of life – always a good deal

The more efficient use of all kinds of resources does not only save energy and other capabilities, but additionally increases the quality of life for citizens. For example, the upgrade of the city’s infrastructure and public transport system will make the urban space more livable because a customized transport system makes connections from A to B shorter and consequently saves precious lifetime of users. Beside this positive effect of improved infrastructure, the “quality of life aim” of the Smart City Vienna project focuses especially on social inclusion. No one, no matter what origin, gender or orientation, should be excluded from social cohabitation. That includes non-restricted access to livable and affordable living spaces as well as a fair remuneration of work. Furthermore, healthcare and environmental issues play key roles in Vienna’s Smart City project. This includes the improvement of garbage logistics towards zero waste, and the creation of green areas to enable citizens to relax in a close-to-nature environment.

Innovation: Small Actions, Big Impact

Having touched upon the key role that innovations play in the implementation of the projects aims, it is important to add that innovation in the Smart City Vienna context is also autotelic. More precisely, Vienna wants to become an “innovation leader”. Therefore, the city focuses on the upgrade of research and education in order to become a magnet for the best researchers worldwide. To reach the goal of having the best researchers in Vienna, city officials have acknowledged the importance of schools and their impact on students and their career choices. Therefore, the city also invests in school education, where all-day schools and integrated schools gain importance. And since Vienna does not only want to foster the next Einstein, but also the possible successors of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, the Vienna’s Smart City project does not only focus on scientific-oriented innovations but also on the economic counterpart. Although Vienna can be proud of being one of the most well-funded regions in Europe, the city wants to improve its economic standards and become even more relevant in the European economy context.

Vienna is (al)ready (to be) smart

Austria’s capital has a big advantage in terms of becoming a smart city: it is already smart. Crowned with the title “Most livable city” Vienna can be proud of having achieved some important goals already. This is a quite promising starting position to head towards a future that is even smarter.