Welcome

For a long time, there was a political party in Vienna that had set itself the goal of slowing down the pace of life on Vienna’s streets. Many people who were set in their ways found it too progressive and, in some cases, too radical. However, it had the advantage that young people saw it as a way to change their city into a greener place. It transformed itself into a party dominated by women and thus lost its male-dominated electorate. In the last two Vienna elections, the socially oriented party, which thinks economically, took over the government again. In doing so, the more socially minded party adopted the ideas of the former, more progressive co-governors and transformed Vienna into a climate-friendly city for the next century.

The president of NADEUM/NADEUM-WIKO moved to this up-and-coming, young district of Vienna’s 15th municipal district when he was younger. He worked until 2017 and only noticed a few changes in the westernmost part of his district.

In 2017, he was astonished to discover that all economic activity had disappeared from this part of the district, but that the streetscape had remained largely unchanged. When he started a family here in 1986, he thought he was in a young, up-and-coming part of town.

In 2017, however, he realized that the district had degenerated into a parking lot.
In 2017, he was forced into retirement. That’s what they call it when a civil servant under the old system retires. In the same year, he presented his idea of a car-free zone to the then transport minister. As he discovered, 2017 was not yet ready for this. The old district representatives were still sitting in the district parliament. They could not or would not imagine a redesign of their district.

From 2020 to 2022, there was the global “COVID pandemic,” a turning point in human history. After that, suddenly many things became possible. Apparently, humanity always has to experience such drastic events in order to imagine change.

The new environmental officer for the city of Vienna had adopted the ideas of the former government partner and took a very active approach to making the federal capital Vienna more sustainable and climate-friendly.

As a result, some streets in his district were redesigned, perhaps also inspired by the ideas of the NADEUM president. The district got two bike lanes redesigned for cyclists and their advocates. Cyclists have priority in these lanes. Cars must adhere to the speed limit. These streets allow access but no through traffic. Whether cycling will be the future will be decided by migrants.

Perhaps the appearance of vehicles will change. Although many people are in favor of cycling, they have forgotten the older generation, who are unable to cycle in Vienna’s hilly landscape. The new generation of e-bikes, on the other hand, must first be understood and learned. They enable faster speeds, which many people underestimate when it comes to necessary braking. As a result, accidents involving bicycles have risen sharply.

Only a mix of different mobility options will enable sensible transportation in the city. What do you do when it rains or snows? Perhaps future cars will be electric and smaller and narrower. Currently, there are many SUVs because we humans cannot get into these smaller cars. The president himself is almost two meters tall. And yes, he belongs to the 60+ age group. His body can no longer carry as much. So he needs his car to do his shopping for the next 12 days. This is impossible with a bicycle or a cargo bike. Therefore, a compromise is needed.

Both the cycling lobby and the car lobby still have a few hurdles to overcome here, because the road consists of several parts of mobility such as sidewalks, green spaces, lanes for bikes, cars, and trams, and should provide space for everyone. This is a very big challenge in European cities. It often takes many years of exhausting planning before feasible redesigns can be implemented. Citizens are currently being actively called upon to get involved in the initial planning stages of road and urban redesign. This, too, is a learning process that many feel is progressing too slowly.

By 2025, there will be two bicycle lanes in the westernmost part of Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, as well as several “Pflanzlets,” formerly known as “Parklets,” set up by citizens on their own initiative. These are consumption-free communication platforms approved by MA 46, which may be up to 20 m² in size and may be set up by the applicants on their own initiative. The City of Vienna supports its citizens through the newly established L21 Agenda. Since 2023, these Pflanzlets have been allowed to remain in place all year round, due to the experiences of the coronavirus pandemic. A wise decision by the city. Why? Because this regulation means that citizens who are opposed to them are less likely to resist the new situation, which is becoming part of the familiar street scene.

This allowed the president of NADEUM-WIKO to realize his plantlet in his section of the street. A small green oasis with benches has been created. He can plant it and all residents can use it. Because it is part of street space management.