Master plan

Driving impulse

An increasing demand for new housing and business locations, greater clarity regarding the future upgrading of high-level traffic and transport routes as well as work on the Urban Development Plan STEP 05 gave rise to the decision to develop the Aspern Airfield land reserve into a new urban centre. The property owners agreed with the City of Vienna on a joint project development package with ambitious objectives.

Selection of planning team

Extensive preparations were followed by a two-tier procedure to draft a master plan. During the first stage, suitable consortia of regional and urban planners, architects, traffic and landscape planners were identified throughout Europe. From this group, 10 teams were invited to submit concrete solution proposals in the second stage of the procedure.

Master planners and project team

Following a preliminary technical evaluation, the results were presented in November 2005 and reviewed by an international expert panel. In January 2006, the team of Tovatt Architects & Planners together with N+ Objektmanagement was awarded the contract.

In drafting the master plan, the planners were assisted by a project team composed of representatives of both Vienna’s urban planning departments and the property owners.

Transparent planning

The first, preliminary draft of the master plan was presented in May 2006 to an audience of 600 at the Donaustadt social and meeting centre “Haus der Begegnung”. This was followed by a citizens’ assembly, whose suggestions were published and integrated. Several workshops served to discuss, detail and fine-tune the plans with the “local experts”, the municipal departments involved and political decision-makers.

On 25 May 2007, the master plan was UNANIMOUSLY adopted by the Vienna City Council.