The regreening project is located in Seestadt Aspern, a newly developed urban area in Vienna's Donaustadt district. Two years after the completion of buildings, streets, and squares, the ground was reopened in 2022 to address the challenges posed by urban heat islands. Pavement was removed, and trees and shrubs were planted to provide shade, create insect habitats, and open seepage areas for rainwater. Additional features like benches, a water station, and water jets were installed to enhance the area's livability. These measures improve the overall quality of life, offering residents green spaces to relax and opportunities to cool down through water play. The project spans three connecting squares in Seestadt: Wangari Maathai Square, Simone de Beauvoir Square, and Eva Maria Mazzucco Square. In 2022, Wangari-Maathai-Platz and Simone-de-Beauvoir-Platz underwent intensive regreening. By 2023, Eva-Maria-Mazzucco-Platz in the Seeparkquartier was similarly transformed with additional greenery and cooling features. Under the slogan "Out of the Asphalt," one of Europe's largest and most innovative urban development projects took a significant step toward improving quality of life. In 2023, over 1,100 square meters of asphalt were removed and greened. This effort included the creation of 12 new green beds planted with grasses, perennials, and shrubs. The design also introduced two square-like recreation areas with existing seating elements surrounded by green beds, providing shaded, pleasant spaces for relaxation. The Eva-Maria-Mazzucco square was designed by a local NGO specializing in citizen engagement in urban development, while the project's overall initiation and implementation were led by the City of Vienna, the Donaustadt district, and Wien 3420 Aspern Development AG. This collaborative effort demonstrates how regreening initiatives can mitigate heat islands, foster urban biodiversity, and create more attractive, livable spaces. (Ref. 1-3)
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Green areas for water management
- Sustainable urban drainage systems
- Other
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Water management (SDG 6)
- Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Urban flooding (stormwater)
- Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
- Environmental Degradation
- Biodiversity loss
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
- Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
- Inadequate access to recreational opportunities
Key priorities
Focus
Project objectives
Implementation activities
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
- Implement sustainable urban drainage schemes to manage stormwater
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
- Private sector/corporate actor/company
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Project implemented in response to ...
Type of enablers
Financing
Total cost
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
- Corporate investment
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Water management and blue areas
- Improved stormwater management
- Achieved improved stormwater management
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Expected increased green space area
- Reduced biodiversity loss
- Expected reduced biodiversity loss
- Increased number of species present
- Expected increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Unknown
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved liveability
- Achieved improved liveability
- Improved access to urban green space
- Achieved improved access to urban green space
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
References
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.