Vienna is creating a sustainable district for 30,000 people. Seestadt Aspern is a laboratory for energy-saving housing and urban mobility. Short distances, few cars, and adapting to climate change are key elements of the lakeside district.
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00:00 The Austrian capital, Vienna, is creating a completely new district.
00:04 Seestadt Aspern is being constructed on a former airfield on the outskirts of town.
00:10 27,000 people are to live here one day.
00:13 It's a testing ground for sustainable housing and living.
00:17 The subway was built long before the first house was erected.
00:20 It only takes 15 minutes to get from the center of the capital to Vienna's newest district.
00:26 It's meant to be car-free, so bikes can be rented everywhere free of charge.
00:31 "A very important aspect was the connection to public transport, right from the beginning.
00:39 The first step was excavating the lake, and then the subway was built.
00:43 The idea was that people knew from the start they could travel here using public transport,
00:48 instead of at first taking their car and then having to relearn their behavior and get used
00:52 to taking the subway."
00:55 The construction of Seestadt Aspern is being supported by several research teams.
01:00 Magdalena Würrbäumer and Florian Püringer are investigating in a mobile lab how the
01:04 residents of Seestadt travel.
01:07 They get the data from an app, which I also download directly onto my cell phone.
01:13 "For the next few days, it will automatically record all the routes that my camera team
01:19 and I take, plus info about the means of transport used and our CO2 consumption."
01:26 The young researchers also go from house to house to distribute questionnaires.
01:30 "We need to know what the status quo is and monitor it continuously, because there are
01:36 changes in individual behavior, and simultaneously Seestadt Aspern is changing as well.
01:43 It's still under construction, it's one third built, so there's still potential for the
01:47 district to use new info for the next construction phase."
01:54 The mobile lab shares its data with anyone who's interested – companies, city planners
01:59 and the residents themselves.
02:01 The data is especially important for the planning phase.
02:04 The new district is meant to learn from its mistakes.
02:09 "At first, it was tolerated that you park your car in front of the door, just in order
02:17 to make your move easier.
02:19 But that behavior quickly became established and turned into a habit.
02:23 And when it was later penalized, there was a big fuss, although it was never planned
02:27 that parking would be allowed there.
02:30 So one of the things we've learned is to work with the development company to make sure
02:34 that these things are taken into account in the newly built areas."
02:42 All over Seestadt Aspern, there are multi-story parking houses, which are very well camouflaged.
02:48 But they're never closer than the next public transport stop, so that it's not more attractive
02:53 to take the car.
02:56 My camera team and I are on board.
02:59 We load 70 kilos of equipment into a cargo bike.
03:05 Kurt Hofstetter isn't only one of the planners of Seestadt Aspern, he's also one of the
03:10 longest residents.
03:11 "At first glance, it's nothing special.
03:15 All the initial development is pretty much just concrete construction, with a few exceptions.
03:21 But the sustainable aspect is, it all comes from the lake.
03:25 The lake didn't exist, it was excavated.
03:29 In the environmental impact statement, it was stipulated that everyone driving in here
03:33 with over a certain number of trucks a day would have to pay a toll.
03:38 That made the concrete so expensive that it was cheaper to produce it on site, with a
03:43 plant we built here.
03:46 So the first phase of Seestadt Aspern was virtually born out of the lake."
03:53 The artificial lake is the center of the neighborhood.
03:57 The whole district is built slightly sloping towards it, so that all the rainwater collects
04:02 there.
04:03 In addition, it's fed by the groundwater flow of the Danube River.
04:08 Seestadt Aspern is home to some unique examples of sustainable architecture.
04:13 At 24 stories and 84 meters high, the HOHO is the world's second tallest wooden skyscraper.
04:21 An office building is under construction here that doesn't need central heating or air conditioning.
04:27 Extremely thick brick walls make it possible.
04:30 "In the first phase, sustainability was not the big issue.
04:37 Residential development was the main concern.
04:39 And we didn't even realize that was a key to sustainability.
04:43 That turned out to be the case when the first things started to work.
04:46 We thought, wow, that worked, now we can take it a step further.
04:51 Then came social change, when suddenly in society and in politics, doors were opening.
04:58 Early on, we argued about things like planting big trees and ended up planting small ones.
05:02 Now it's common practice."
05:03 Seestadt is built on spongy ground.
05:08 Under the trees and plant beds, there's a layer of gravel 80 centimeters thick.
05:12 The gaps are filled with a substrate of sand, compost and biochar, which serves two functions.
05:19 It can store water and also release nutrients.
05:24 But many residents find the gravel beds around the young trees too drab.
05:29 Various initiatives are trying to make them more attractive.
05:32 But it's not all that easy.
05:36 "You have to apply to the city of Vienna for a permit in order to plant vegetation.
05:45 And then you have to prove that you will take on this responsibility and that you will take
05:50 care of it regularly."
05:54 Such a permit can take up to three months.
05:58 For large-scale projects, like the communal garden of Heidi Mackler's Gardeners' Association,
06:04 you need even more patience.
06:06 But the joy of being able to harvest fruit and vegetables makes up for the toil.
06:12 "Oh, what an abundance.
06:18 And they have this fabulous name.
06:24 They're called Communists."
06:31 What gets grown and when, in the 1,000 square meters of garden, is a collective decision.
06:38 Vegetable gardens, sustainable architecture, good public transport access – none of this
06:43 comes cheap.
06:45 Another core principle of Seestadt is social diversity.
06:48 The sale of real estate within the project to private investors helps fund social housing
06:53 and public developments.
06:55 Here, sustainability also makes economic sense.
06:59 Vast amounts of data are collected to ensure an optimized energy supply.
07:06 Europe's largest-ever energy research project, which employs over 200 people, is underway
07:12 in Seestadt Aspen.
07:14 Sensors are installed all over the district.
07:17 They record in real time how much energy each building consumes and how much it produces.
07:24 "This particular building is almost net zero.
07:28 It uses just a little more electricity than it produces.
07:35 Next door is an EnergyPlus building.
07:37 It produces more electricity than it consumes.
07:42 And we can go one step further.
07:44 Take a building that requires a lot of cooling.
07:46 It will also have a lot of waste heat.
07:48 That warm energy is released into the atmosphere and that's problematic for the surrounding
07:53 city.
07:54 It's more efficient and intelligent to make the waste heat available to the neighboring
07:58 building."
08:02 Identifying and solving problems together – Seestadt is all about community.
08:07 That's the message I keep hearing.
08:09 We're on our way to Vienna's newest Gemeindebau, or municipal building – a social housing
08:15 concept dating back to the 1920s.
08:18 "You can still read on the buildings that they were financed from the revenues of the
08:23 residential construction tax.
08:26 That was a tax on luxury goods, automobiles, service personnel, entertainment such as opera
08:31 and theater, and so on.
08:36 All this was taxed and the funds were used to finance the municipal building projects."
08:45 The tax no longer exists.
08:47 But while other cities in Europe are struggling with spiraling rents and real estate speculation,
08:52 over half of Vienna's housing market is city-owned.
08:56 Four thousand new subsidized homes are in the pipeline.
09:00 The city already owns 220,000 apartments like these.
09:04 Twenty-five percent of Vienna's residents live in municipal housing.
09:08 "Hi, are you coming down?"
09:11 "Great, thanks."
09:13 "When I first came here, it felt very sci-fi and utopian.
09:20 I expected to see flying cars and such things.
09:27 What I think is great is that there's neighborhood management.
09:31 They organize lots of projects for the Seestadt residents and it makes you feel very at home."
09:39 Is Seestadt as utopian as it seems?
09:42 Is this green urban development project community living at its best?
09:48 The last stop on my visit to Vienna is an intergenerational apartment block.
09:54 The apartments are small, but there are also communal spaces and a roof garden.
10:00 And here, too, a strong sense of community.
10:04 "It's sustainable living because we borrow things from each other.
10:10 People ask, for instance, 'Hey, can I borrow your iron?'
10:14 And I just have my grandson visiting, so I needed a cot, a baby rocker and a high chair.
10:20 And I was able to borrow everything, so that was great."
10:26 Both women moved to Seestadt Aspern from much bigger apartments in the inner city, a move
10:31 neither have ever regretted.
10:33 "I love how many sports grounds there are under and around the train tracks.
10:43 And they're always in use.
10:46 Throughout the day, until late in the evening.
10:50 There's always laughter, there's always something happening.
10:56 It's vibrant.
10:57 It makes me happy."
11:03 All the buildings in the first construction phase have been state-subsidized, which is
11:07 why so many young families live here.
11:10 The next development phase will see the construction of privately financed apartments, lofts and
11:15 terraced houses.
11:16 Seestadt Aspern is a work in progress, learning, evolving and flourishing.
11:21 "
11:22 "I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to be here."