ABSTRACT
While in other cities urban transitions to environmental sustainability are often motivated by neoliberal strategies of urban development that may end up triggering gentrification, in Vienna a strong commitment to greening the city is not displacing longtime residents. The case of Vienna is representative of a model inspired by the radical notion that housing is not a commodity, but a universal right. This is the result of a complex social and administrative architecture of policies rooted in the “Red Vienna” period (1918–1934) that have endured until today. This chapter reviews the main urban policies and funding mechanisms that have prevented gentrification in Vienna even in the aftermath of important climate and environmental redevelopment projects. In this sense, Vienna is an exceptional case that other cities can learn from, though it is not exempt from the challenges posed by a pressing national and regional neoliberal environment, budget cuts, private-development-driven economy and international real estate investment.
Keywords
the urban development pattern of the city and neighborhood: fast recent growing; a rising global city; livable city planning
the urban greening of the city and/or neighborhood: parks and gardens; waterfront redevelopment, eco-districts, ecological retrofitting; greenbelt
the inequalities at stake: historic affordable and public housing infrastructure; recent dualization of the access to affordable housing; (re)-commodification of housing; unequal climate protection
