CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 03/2020

L’AUTRICHE INTERVIEW
und unterschiedlicher Religion miteinander
leben können, wenn es Rahmenbedingungen
gibt, die von allen akzeptiert werden.
Welche Rolle spielen Städte, konkret die
österreichische Hauptstadt, innerhalb der EU?
Mir ist wichtig, dass man in der Europäischen
Union verstärkt auch die Bedeutung
der Städte wahrnimmt. Denn diese sind
der dynamische Teil in der EU, insbesondere
auch in ihrer Funktion als Wissensstandorte.
Die Städte sollten stärkeres Gehör
in der EU finden. Ich bin dabei, das
gemeinsam mit anderen Bürgermeistern in
der EU zu verankern. Ich habe da einen
sehr guten Partner in Brüssel, den EU-
Kommissar Johannes „Gio“ Hahn, der ja
früher auch Gemeinderat in Wien war und
mit dem es schon vor einiger Zeit gelungen
ist, die Rolle der Städte in der Union stärker
anzusprechen.
CD: Mister Mayor, Vienna’s municipal elections
will be held on 11 October. What kind of result do
you wish to see for your party, the SPÖ?
Michael Ludwig: In Vienna’s last municipal
election in 2015, the SPÖ received
39.5 percent of the vote. This was a very
good result and my goal for the coming
election on 11 October is to come close to
this result again. But what is even more important
to me is that the election campaign
is conducted in a healthy atmosphere. I will
do my best to make sure that it will be a
battle of ideas and that positions and policies
take the centre stage in place of partisan
bickering.
How do you intend to contribute to this?
This year’s election campaign is held under
completely different conditions. The
coronavirus has affected all walks of life
and, of course, the municipal elections as
well. This is why it is important to me that
we tackle in particular those issues that
have emerged over the course of the corona
crisis. We are talking about healthcare, first
and foremost. In Vienna, we have done
very well for ourselves in this regard. Austria
in general has fared quite well thus far
when looking at international comparisons
of how countries’ healthcare systems have
responded to the coronavirus. But there
have also been serious effects on the economy
and the job market. This is something
that is going to be especially important for
me in the nearer term: We have to support
the economy and save as many jobs as possible,
and, I hope, create new ones, too.
You have been the Mayor of Vienna for a little
over two years now. What do you consider to have
been your greatest successes during this period
and what has been especially important to you in
your daily work?
There are always new challenges for our
metropolis Vienna. It was important to me
to strengthen Vienna’s role as a business
hub. We have, especially when it comes to
infrastructure, taken a series of future-oriented
measures, like the initiation of a new
international bus terminal. We are building
a new event hall in St. Marx that will stage
major cultural and sports events. It was also
important to me to set priorities in the job
market. We have taken a lot of measures for
people aged 50 and above in particular in
order to help them find work. Most recently,
I have launched a major apprenticeship initiative:
We have doubled the number of apprentices
working directly in Vienna.
Vienna is very popular among tourists, but the
corona crisis has taken its toll on the city’s tourism
industry. What can the city government do here?
Due to the coronavirus, tourism has
been severely impacted in many parts of
Austria. There have been drops of 50, 60 or
more percent. This was especially serious
for Vienna, since we have, over the past few
years, expanded tourism with a focus on
conventions and conferences. And this
type of tourism hasn’t dropped by 50 but by
100 percent, since large-scale events like
this can no longer be held. And it is not just
the conference centres or the hotel industry
that are suffering from this, but also catering
and retail, for conference participants
tend to be particularly attractive tourists
with high expenses. However, we are continuing
to focus strongly on the international
markets because we believe that it is
going to be possible to travel again once
there is a vaccine.
Vienna is the third UN city, the only one in the EU
and Vienna is strongly internationally oriented in
many other ways as well. What can you do as
mayor in order to preserve and expand the city’s
international reputation?
Vienna ranks very well in international
comparisons. We have 230 bilateral or multilateral
institutions in our city and we
maintain intensive contact with 40 of our
international organisations. We have a very
proactive city foreign policy of our own.
This means that we supplement the
government’s own foreign policy with a systematic
foreign policy of our own, as well as
with a city network that we have established
across Europe and beyond — all of this
adds to Vienna as a business hub. And since
we are realising a lot of projects that are also
very interesting to other cities — take our
smart city strategy, for example — we also
enjoy a very good reputation abroad.
What separates Vienna from other European
metropolises in your view? What are the city’s key
characteristics that other cities don’t have?
Vienna differs very much from other
metropolises, in part due to the unique atmosphere
in our city where coexistence
takes the centre stage. We are the second
biggest city in the German-speaking region,
only Berlin is bigger. However, Vienna
isn’t just among the largest cities in Europe,
but also among the most attractive ones.
This can be seen in the fact that we have
once again been named the most liveable
city in the world. Vienna’s attraction, however,
also has to do with our strong economy.
Our GDP is as big as that of Slovenia
and Croatia combined.
Vienna is also a powerful economic engine
within Austria, while at the same time
a renowned science and university city
with a unique position, at least in the German-speaking
region. We have significantly
expanded the link between business and
science in recent years. My predecessor Michael
Häupl — being a biologist — contributed
a great deal to making us one of
Europe’s biotechnology leaders.
What is the future of digitalisation in Vienna?
This is something that we are working
on very strongly. Our ambition is for Vienna
to become the digitalisation capital of
Europe. We have very well-educated people
in our city and, next to several larger ones,
we also have countless well-organised small
and medium-sized businesses that have a
lot of flexibility in this domain. And with
nine universities, five private universities
and five technical colleges, we’re one of the
leading education hubs in the Germanspeaking
region. We want to further expand
these forward-looking economic sectors.
You like to emphasise that Vienna is a cosmopolitan
city. What exactly do you mean by that?
I believe that Vienna is one of the important
meeting hubs for organisations and
international business settlements. And
there is a reason for that. It has to do with
the special “climate of Vienna” and the fact
that we understand neutrality in such a way
that Vienna has become a place where
many different views encounter one another.
Here, people do not just meet each
other, they actively work on solutions for
the future. Cosmopolitanism, however,
must also be applied in daily life. It is important
to me that the public participates
in this and that there is interest in bigger
pictures. We have to communicate more
strongly to the public that our city is home
to so many international organisations.
One aspect of cosmopolitanism is openness
towards other cultures. In light of the current
anti-racism debate, how do you view the attitude
of the Viennese in this respect?
Around half of Vienna’s population
have a second or third-generation migration
background. This means that many Viennese
come from other cultures or Austri-
PHOTO: RALPH MANFREDA
76 Cercle Diplomatique 3/2020