Vienna, with its rich historical background, has the perks of a metropolis and the feel of something much more intimate. It is comparable to an ecosystem made up of diverse and international individuals that manage to live harmoniously with their environment. This ecosystem is able to ally with affordable living, a sense of aesthetics and community, whilst being a dynamic and thriving start-up hub providing stable grounds on which innovation and daring ideas can flourish.
tech2impact, just like Vienna, is a tight knit community of international start-ups, investors, and industry experts. With our next event tech4SDGs Day coming up on the 2nd of March in Vienna, it seems like the right time to tell you about 5 different ways in which Vienna stands out as a leader in impact-driven innovation.
Vienna’s social housing program sets the bar!
Vienna, as a city, is innovative and forward thinking. This mindset is reflected in many domains, but a particularly successful example is its social housing program. As opposed to its European counterparts, it has been able to resist the negative stigma often attached to it and has managed to set the quality of life as a basic right for all. Nearly half of the housing market is owned by the city’s council. Whilst those homes have undergone multiple attempts to become privatized, the Austrian government always obtained for them to stay publicly owned. One of the characteristics of this Viennese enterprise is that it isn’t exclusive to people who find themselves in financial difficulties. Because of its abundance, over ⅔ of Vienna’s inhabitants are able to enjoy a government owned house.
An attractive start-up hub
Vienna is truly a start-up accelerator in and of itself. Besides its exemplary social housing program leading by example, it counts roughly 6800 companies focusing on tech innovation generating an annual total of €24bn in sales according to the VBA. These numbers alone make Vienna one of the top-ranking tech European cities.
The city and its regions offer a diverse and complementary ecosystem of research and development for established companies and start-ups of all sizes. It is particularly attractive to entrepreneurs, as well as investors because of its generous government subsidies that support all sorts of innovative ideas.
I-bahn, U-bahn…
Within the city, transportation has been made easy. The U-bahn, or the rapid transit system makes every journey easy and sustainable. It is easy to understand and can take you across the city in no time. The network is made up of 109 different stops and spread across 83 km of track. In 2009 the international association of public transport named the U-Bahn the best performing public transport worldwide.
Cycling in the city is also a very popular way to go from point A to point B. The city counts 1654 km of the cycle network. This network is made up of different types of routes such as cycleways, cycle lanes, cycle paths, hybrid pedestrian and cycle paths, mixed purpose lanes, and traffic-calmed zones.
Smart City Wien
The city of Vienna takes a proactive stance when it comes to its impact on the planet. Strong of the knowledge that 75% of the global CO2 emissions come from cities as well as its own growing population and increasing globalization and fast advancing digitalisation, the city has adopted a strategy it calls Smart City Wien. This strategy consists of putting the focus on people, acknowledging the importance of interconnectedness, and working together to consider the needs and aspirations of today, tomorrow, and the generations to come. With this important paradigm shift and needed changes, Vienna wants to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants and lead by example as an open inclusive and cooperative city. Stefanie Roithmayr consultant sustainable and circular construction for the City of Vienna will join our tech4SDGs Day to tell us a bit more about the city’s future.
This thrust toward a smarter way of living using science and technology in harmony with life as we know it is quintessentially representative of the innovative mindset Vienna, as a city, cultivates.
Electric City
Going forward with its innovative ideas Vienna uses its incredible landscapes to its advantage. 66% of Austria’s electricity is generated via hydropower. As the cold water makes its way through the rocky mountains defining Austria’s landscape it is used by hydropower stations to produce great amounts of energy. Producing electricity this way has a very small CO2 footprint, doing so the country participates in the 180 million tonnes of CO2 emission avoided each year in Europe through the use of Hydropower. Vienna was also the landscape where the first electric car was built. In 1899 Ludwig Lohner and Ferdinand Porsche built an electric car which was answering the same concerns for the environment as the ones we are trying to address today. Lohner, in 1899 was already concerned by the increase in cars using petrol engines, he referred to the damage to the air such engines would cause, and he was right. Today we can only be inspired by such forward thinking individuals and learn from their mindsets.
Innovating since 1905
Vienna has a long tradition of intellectuals, the city is known for the Vienna Circle or Wiener Kreis, a group of elite philosophers, sociologists, mathematicians and so on. But Vienna was also home to Bertha Von Suttner, the first woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize was awarded to both her and her comrade Tobias Asser, a legal scholar, for developing a world order based on peace rather than war. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to individuals who have accomplished the best work within a given year to foster fraternity between nations, as well as, for the reduction of standing armies and the promotion of peace congresses across the world. Once again Vienna demonstrates its capacity to champion innovation and lead by example.
Vienna, a leading example
From its efficient and innovative social housing program to its Nobel Prize winning innovative minds, these are the daring ways of conceptualizing life in Vienna that make it a very well-rounded city offering forward thinking infrastructures for impact tech start-ups as well as investors looking to find their next adventure. If you would also like to embark on your next adventure, well it starts in Vienna! Register now for our tech4SDGs DAY coming up on the 2nd of March in Vienna. During this event, you’ll be able to congregate with a variety of innovative minds and discuss how technology can be used to achieve sustainable development goals.