Biotope City

Building the green city together

Biotope City is located in the south of Vienna on a former factory site on Triester Straße, at the transition to the recreational area on Wienerberg. It is surrounded by business parks and high-rise buildings to the west and predominantly single-family homes to the east. At the beginning of this green idea was a mission statement developed by the Biotope City Foundation, founded by urban planner Helga Fassbinder, together with Harry Glück, the architect of the Alt-Erlaa residential park, who died in 2016. The main goals of this model: a reduction in heat pollution, greater biodiversity, more green in the residential environment and intelligent rainwater management. The method: an intelligent use of nature's regenerative mechanisms through innovative cooperation between people, technology, flora and fauna.

To implement this guiding principle, an interdisciplinary team of planners, developers, consultants and municipal departments subsequently drew up a detailed quality catalog. The implementation of ecological goals across building sites was also part of the program from the very beginning.

Many measures, one goal

How do biotope and city find each other? How does green find its way into the built city? With much expertise and many practical solutions. In Biotope City, large trees with a trunk circumference of up to 35 cm are planted right from the start, because in the summer heat the shade of a tree is much more effective than the shade of a building. The inner courtyards and roof areas will be used for gardening, the facades will be greened, and the loggias and balconies will be equipped with plant troughs already integrated into the building. The areas between the buildings are also made climate-effective by unsealed collection and seepage areas.

Expertise for the microclimate

All these measures are established and accompanied by science. The research project "Biotope City - Construction Manual for the Green City of the Future," funded under the "City of the Future" program by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, accompanies the planning and implementation process. Microclimate simulations for Biotope City were carried out using GREENPASS® in order to optimally coordinate urban planning and measures and to achieve the highest possible climatic effects with the lowest possible input. With the measures, a cooling of the air flowing through by 2°C is achieved. Thus, Biotope City has a cooling effect not only for its own residential and working population, but also for the surrounding city.

Understanding urban climate

In May 2017, the exhibition "BIOTOPE CITY - The City as Nature" took place on the premises of the Gebietsbetreuung Stadterneuerung in Favoriten. The principles of the Biotope City, first results of the research project, as well as the plans of the future development were showcased. The team of Caritas Wien - Stadtteilarbeit, which the developers commissioned with the neighborhood management in the Biotope City, worked together with the research team in a supportive manner on the communication of the measures and on a guideline for action for residents, so that in the end everyone can contribute to the success of the project. The task of the IBA_Vienna was to communicate these findings and processes so that similar measures can be established in other areas.