TRUE URBAN SPIRIT

1 VIENNA: SETTING THE STAGE
A GENDER-EQUITABLE CITY
For many years, Vienna has been offering excellent
frame conditions for gender equity. As a
key prerequisite for the compatibility of work and
family duties, the Austrian capital provides the
country’s densest network of free-of-charge childcare
facil ities, a steadily growing range of public
schools with whole-day care and a high density
of women-specific counselling points and advancement
programmes. Vienna has met with international
acclaim for the thematic breadth and meth -
odo logical depth of its gender-sensitive planning
approaches, since a robust urban structure allows
for a great variety of use, creates leeway for action
for its inhabitants and also supports the goal of
rendering the social gender roles of women and
men equally permeable and flexible.
Vienna is committed to a gender-sensitive
quality assurance process in planning since
planned and designed environments strongly
impact the quality of everyday life and living
opportunities of all inhabitants. This means taking
systematic account of the different needs and
life realities of women and men at all levels of
planning and hence implementing the principles
of gender-sensitive planning geared to the
requirements of every life (Manual “Gender
Mainstreaming in Urban Planning and Urban Development”).
AN EDUCATING CITY
In our age of the service and knowledge society,
education, training, vocational qualification and
lifelong learning constitute vital prerequisites for the
social and economic development of a city and are
moreover key factors for individual life chances,
equal opportunities and self-determined action by
citizens. Well-trained specialised personnel as well
as newcomers to the labour market are essential
for the economic development and future of our
city, its enterprises and companies. Future-oriented
urban development and successful educational
policies are closely intertwined and reinforce each
other.
For integrative urban planning, it is therefore
highly relevant to create preconditions to ensure
that a maximum number of children and young
people will enjoy education and vocational training
of a good standard. Every child must be given a
fair start in life. For this reason, Vienna is committed
to the ongoing, demand-oriented upgrading
of educational services and establishments
and provides space for “good learning places”.
Interesting and useful educational facilities are
an undeniable location asset, contribute significant
ly to enhancing urban quality of life and render
a city attractive.
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