The Route West takes you through the three Viennese districts of Hernals (17th), Ottakring (16th) and Penzing (14th). The densely built-up, Gründerzeit-style districts along the Gürtel and Wiental, which are close to the city center, form a functional unit and are referred to as the Westgürtel. The Gürtel itself is an essential link in the high-level road network in the core area of Vienna. Over decades, it has increas- ingly developed into a traffic area, a collection and distribution track for individual traffic between the inner and outer districts. The develop- ment in this area is characterized by the Gründerzeit block grid system with its extreme density and maximum utilization of land. As a result, there are hardly any public open spaces with high quality that invite people to linger. The parts of the district far from the center are located at the foothills of the Vienna Woods. The development structure there is much smaller and characterized by single-family houses and villas. The Vienna Woods are considered Vienna’s “green lungs” and are part of the legally protected green belt.

On Route West is the Apfelbaum project, which, in addition to its inclusive approach, is engaged in exemplary neighborhood development in a Gründerzeit block. The project is about to start construction and cannot be visited on site yet. From 2016 to 2021, the Pocket Mannerhatten Ottakring research project investigated the neighborly networked use of spaces, areas and infrastructures. Together with neighbors in a block of houses in Vienna-Ottakring, valuable insights were gained. The HOUSEFUL project is also a research and development project and is entirely dedicated to the topic of circular economy. The demonstration object of this project is located in Fehring in Styria and can be visited as part of an excursion. For details, please refer to the IBA_Vienna 2022 program.