The Aspern airfield site is regarded as one of the most important redevelopment schemes in Vienna and is expected to become a new focal point and traffic interchange for the region. A new infrastructure including underground links to the city and ring road systems are planned, together with fast tram connections to Bratislava.  The proposed masterplan is truly mixed use, including residential, commercial, cultural and educational elements.  It will contain approximately 7,000 residential homes, a university, a research campus, offices and retail.  The proposed scheme is expected to accommodate a daily population of 45,000 people living and working in the new environment. The redevelopment of the area is expected to commence in three to four years’ time.  The construction and implementation stage will span several decades.

Tovatt Architects & Planners has proposed a relatively dense and urban development for the area, a structure built up of large-scale civic gestures coupled with small and spontaneous spatial surprises.  A central park at the focal point of the plan connects and links smaller squares and public open spaces into a meandering net providing a safe and clear way of movements. A generous ring road, a wide pedestrian route and radial connections give the masterplan its structure. This structure also provides the basis for a large flexibility for the development of the ‘city blocks’, and how the proposal can develop over time. The northern edge of the development contains a complex interchange of public transport; a regional node integrating fast train, underground, trams and buses.  The a large network of pedestrian friendly streets and parks forms the basis in which the use of cars could be reduced to a minimum. We have tried to design a city that is more compact and connected, supporting a range of diverse uses – allowing people to live, work and enjoy themselves at close quarters  – within a sustainable urban environment which is well integrated with public transport and adaptable to change.

The masterplan and its Design Guide are based on the winning proposal in the international competition that Tovatt Architect and Planners submitted in the autumn  of 2005. Since then, the plan has been developed further in close collaboration with the local authority and  landowners. The developed scheme includes strategies for a phased development, defined building typologies, landscape typologies and strategies for vehicular traffic.  The Masterplan Design guidelines establishes the necessary social infrastructure early in the development, to ensure access to a range of community facilities and the support networks which are necessary to achieve a genuine sense of community. 

Client: Magistrat Wien, BundesImmobilien Gesellschaft, Wiener Wirtschafts Förderungsfonds & Wohnfonds Wien

Designers: Tovatt Arcitects and Planners, Sweden in collaboration with N+ Objektmanagement, Germany

Data: Masterplan for a 240 Hectares site including 800 000 sqm housing, 1 100 000 sqm commercial, retail and research.

Realization dates: Building start 2008. Planed completion dates are for phase 0: 2010, for Phase 1: 2013, for phase 2: 2019 and for Phase 3: after 2020

Tovatt Architects & Planners