Innovative Programmes secure Ecological and Social Living Standards in Subsidized Housing

Vienna is a metropolis boasting exceptional quality of life. This is due primarily to housing construction in the city which successfully manages to create modern living space cut to the needs of individuals but also the many flats in pre-war buildings that have been modernized and adapted to sustainable and ecological criteria in one of the biggest rehabilitation programmes worldwide, the sustainable Urban Renewal programme. The quality of living in Vienna may be seen in four innovative programmes that have been recognised by UN-HABITAT as Best Practices in the last years.

Among these Sustainable Urban Renewal is exemplary, constituting as it does a way to maintain the city and renovate historical building stock without having to relocate the tenants, as it is happening in many other cities. The main focus of urban renewal in Vienna in recent years has been shifted to rehabilitating entire building blocks. Thus, it is possible to establish concepts across several properties to improve individual houses and substantially raise the attraction of entire residential areas by adding new green and open spaces, among others.

Rehabilitation of old building stock constitutes a major contribution towards protecting the climate. Thanks to the programme Thermal rehabilitation for residential buildings (THEWOSAN) air pollutants and carbon dioxide have been markedly reduced in recent years, with CO2 emissions down by more than 234,600 tons in 2006 alone.

Property developers Competition, the fourth programme recognised as Best Practice by UN-HABITAT, means to place the principles of competition in the forefront in order to raise the environmental qualities of subsidized and social housing. With the instrument of the Property developers Competition "Low Energy Standard" in all cases and "Passive House Standard" in many cases has been achieved while overall costs have been reduced or kept at a constant level.

UN-HABITAT Best Practices are innovative, sustainable and carried out in partnerships

The report provides an overview over the four UN-HABITAT Best Practices of the City of Vienna in the area of housing, recognised as Best Practice. The report further aims to show the tangible results of these programmes, the rehabilitations of old buildings and the construction of new buildings that have actually been carried out in the programmes. Emphasis is laid on presenting the experts behind the programmes, the companies, building contractors and architects, who were responsible and who constitute the expert basis of Vienna in this field.

Starting from pilot projects the study presents the innovations, necessary for building in low energy standard and the companies, responsible for developing and applying the technology.

The study aims to show how programmes develop into houses and how partnerships between experts, the private sector, the existing and future tenants and owners of the buildings and the city are forged.