Club Architektur #17

Regardless of whether cars have combustion engines or are electric, in the city they spend more time parked than being driven, occupying vast amounts of space. This is space that people could use — for recreation and exercise, for trees and gardens. So, are roads the space reserves for the city of tomorrow? What are the mobility concepts that‚ improve everybody’s quality of life?

Oslo, Paris and Ljubljana are already focusing steadily on car-free city centres, and a model for calming the traffic in Vienna’s inner city is also underway. Measured in terms of population growth, Vienna has the lowest level of motorisation in Austria, which is also declining, while another 50,000 vehicles were still added between 2013 and 2023. Parking spaces are now the same size as children’s bedrooms (12.5 sqm), and new options for mobility are further taxing the already dense urban space. How can we make the mobility transition a concern for society as a whole — towards a climate-resilient city? Because in addition to green spaces and water areas, cooling our cities entails one thing above all else: less metal on the roads.

With: Clemens Horak, Head of Department 18, City of Vienna — Urban Development and Town Planning; Katharina Jaschinsky, VCÖ; Marina Mohr, traffic planner, Vienna; Matthias Nagler, ÖAMTC

Moderated by Maik Novotny, architecture journalist

Thanks to Kohlmaier GmbH, Vienna