aspern Seestadt sets new benchmarks with “EVA Report”

Since its beginnings, Seestadt has developed into a dynamic place to live and work. Today, this young district in the northeast of Vienna is already home to 12,000 residents, around 550 businesses, and over 5,000 people working in Seestadt. “Seestadt has often been described as a playground for developing the smart city of the future. And rightly so: many things that are now a fixed part of sustainable business were first tested in Seestadt. The technology center of the Vienna Business Agency, opened in 2012, was, for example, the first commercial property to generate more energy than it consumes. In about 14 years, Seestadt has evolved from a vision into a modern, successful, and innovative place to live and do business. This makes it an international showcase for what the city of the future can look like. As a business location, Seestadt is strategically developing site qualities for a wide range of sectors and successfully integrating them into the district. This is driving value creation and increasing the supply of attractive, future-proof jobs,” says City Councillor for Finance and Economic Affairs Peter Hanke.

A key success factor at the location is especially the mix of residential, business, leisure, and culture, as well as the cooperation between public institutions, private enterprise, research institutions, and the development company Wien 3420. This is particularly evident in the example of the Seestadt Technology Center of the Vienna Business Agency, which was the catalyst for Seestadt’s innovation ecosystem.

Other reasons for companies to settle here, according to Vienna Business Agency Managing Director Gerhard Hirczi, are the clear commitment to sustainability and the excellent infrastructure: “Seestadt was a climate pioneer long before climate change became an accepted reality. This aspect of sustainability is now a key asset for many companies looking to locate in a major city: Seestadt offers space for business on a climate-friendly foundation.”

Seventeen years after the master plan was adopted and almost ten years after the first residents moved in, Wien 3420 is now setting new benchmarks with EVA by refining its development goals for aspern Seestadt in eight different fields of action* and defining key performance indicators (KPIs) for each. This means Seestadt is breaking new ground not only in Austria—internationally, few urban development areas have established such a comprehensive KPI set for measurable and transparent performance tracking.

The deep dive, which involved 116 external experts and stakeholders, confirmed that Wien 3420’s previous strategies are bearing fruit in many areas. Surveys and studies also show high levels of approval—especially among Seestadt residents and businesses. For example, 93% of respondents in a residential satisfaction survey said they like or love living in Seestadt. Local businesses gave the district an average grade of 2.3 when asked about their overall impression in a market research study. It also became clear that Seestadt scores much higher among local residents and businesses than among control groups from outside.

“With EVA, we wanted to gather a very broad, external picture of sentiment. But above all, we wanted to identify the levers that will take our development to the next level. EVA therefore also stands for aspern Seestadt 2.0,” explains Wien 3420 CEO Gerhard Schuster, adding: “I am pleased that Seestadt is performing very well in many areas. But it’s also clear that there is always room for improvement, which we can not only address with EVA, but also better manage through the KPIs. We want to continue to be a trailblazer in urban development,” says Gerhard Schuster.