TRUE URBAN SPIRIT

1 VIENNA: SETTING THE STAGE
Vienna today and tomorrow
In 2013, Vienna’s population had increased by
almost 200,000 persons as compared to 2000; at
the moment, the city has approx. 1.75 million
inhabitants. According to forecasts, this development
will continue in coming years; around 2030,
Vienna will have arrived at 2 million citizens.
For the entire Viennese agglomeration, which
comprises the adjoining districts of Lower Austria
and parts of northern Burgenland, the population
growth predicted for the same period equals
more than 400,000 inhabitants. As a result, the
metropolitan region of Vienna ( Stadtregion +)
in 2030 will probably be home and workplace
for over 3 million people. The composition of the
population, too, will have changed. The group over
60 years of age will have increased, as will the
bottom of the demographic pyramid: in all, Vienna
will have become the “youngest” and most international
of all federal provinces of Austria.
Past growth has already visibly changed Vienna:
the city today is more diverse than ever before;
people from approx. 200 nations live here; one
third of the population is foreign-born, and close
to 50 percent have a migration background, i. e.
at least one parent was born abroad. Different
lifestyles, value systems and attitudes, changing
gender roles and a great variety of economic,
linguistic, religious and cultural backgrounds
characterise housing and living patterns, employment
relationships and leisure activities. At the
same time, Vienna experienced profound changes
as a business location: due to competition and
the catching-up process of the new EU Member
States, Vienna’s economy came under massive
modernisation and efficiency pressures over the
past two decades, triggering correspondingly
rapid structural change: today, the urban economy
is dominated by technology-oriented industries
and the service sector. Above all knowledge-intensive
services, such as telecommuni -
cations, insurance, legal and tax counselling,
but also the creative industries, have grown significantly.
These changes have left a marked urbanistic and
architectural imprint on the cityscape: modern
education and research facilities, above all the
new campus of Vienna’s University of Economics
and Business, other new campus sites ( “University
Location Vienna Concept”), infrastructure
projects such as Vienna Main Station or Westbahnhof,
company premises, such as Siemens City
in the 21 st municipal district Floridsdorf or Viertel
Zwei in the 2 nd municipal district Leopoldstadt,
and new urban quarters, such as Donau City,
have all altered the city’s face.
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