Climate-friendly and future-oriented solutions for neighbourhoods

Launched in 2021, WieNeu+ is a ten-year urban renewal programme of the City of Vienna that is being rolled out in selected urban neighbourhoods ("Grätzl").

For more than 50 years now, the City of Vienna has been pursuing an integrated urban renewal strategy aimed at regeneration of the existing urban structure. The objective is to enhance residents' quality of life and increase the attractiveness of local neighbourhoods.

WieNeu+ focuses on climate-friendly, future-proof measures that improve climate resilience and help foster positive social and economic development. These include refurbishment of buildings as well as the roll-out of innovative energy solutions and the creation of green oases and outdoor spaces. Special emphasis is also placed on measures to support the local economy and promote community interaction within the neighbourhood. With this in mind, local residents are systematically brought on board and involved in these processes of change. The neighbourhood is considered in its entirety, promoting as well as utilising synergies between the individual fields of activity.

The WieNeu+ programme was launched in the Innerfavoriten neighbourhood of Vienna's 10th district (Favoriten) in early 2021. In January 2023 the second WieNeu+ programme area, Grätzl 20+2, was added, this time cutting across the two municipal districts of Brigittenau and Leopoldstadt. The preparatory phase for the third programme area in Hernals (17th municipal district) got under way back in mid-2025.

Innovative solutions are funded, implemented and scientifically monitored for the long-term use and benefit of the City of Vienna. 

• Buildings & energy: exemplary use of new technologies with a view to achieving net zero.
• Community-building: activating participation promotes needs-based development of future-proof solutions.
• Neighbourhood development & public space: continuous improvement of infrastructure enhances the quality of urban life.
• The cross-cutting knowledge and innovation management pillar ensures that the accumulated knowledge and the resulting innovations are carried forward by the municipal administration and the respective stakeholders.

Creating quality of life in the city. WieNeu+ is part of the redevelopment campaign "Wir SAN Wien" (We are/refurbish Vienna). The campaign was launched in 2020 by Deputy Mayor Kathrin Gaál to ensure that the successful soft urban renewal programme also meets the challenges of the future. 

Claim

 

Climate- and future-proof solutions for urban neighbourhoods

Mission statement

 

WieNeu+ is an urban renewal programme of the City of Vienna that plays a pivotal role in making urban neighbourhoods climate- and future-proof. It works together with local residents and stakeholders to roll out innovative solutions in selected neighbourhoods, sustainably upgrading existing buildings, improving the living environment and fostering community life.

The programme's goals are aligned towards the overarching goals and objectives of the City of Vienna, particularly those set out in the Smart Climate City Strategy. The City of Vienna aims to achieve net zero. In order to meet the city's climate goals, innovative, forward-looking approaches and solutions are required — especially within the existing built-up area.

Building upon the future

 

Looking to the future, we make a significant contribution to developing a sustainable, climate-neutral city.

• We implement measures to decarbonise the existing building stock.

• We realise projects showcasing circular construction and refurbishment methods.

• We implement measures to enhance housing comfort and quality of life in the neighbourhood.

• We roll out measures in public and semi-public spaces to help improve local quality of life.

Shaping communities

 

We shape neighbourhoods in partnership with the people who live there.

• We use newly-developed participatory formats to enable goal-oriented public participation involving different target groups.

• We create vibrant, attractive ground-floor zones that revitalise the neighbourhood and the public space.

• We foster social inclusion and community interaction based on solidarity within the neighbourhood.

• We implement measures combining conservation of resources and social justice.

Fostering innovation

 

We roll out innovative, replicable beacon projects that make a substantial contribution to achieving the City of Vienna's Smart Climate City goals.

• We facilitate networking of key players for the realisation of climate- and future-proof innovations in the built environment.

• We organise knowledge transfer and innovation management between the project partners as well as across the municipal departments and associated organisations. An accompanying monitoring framework ensures continuous ongoing evaluation and evolution of the WieNeu+ urban renewal programme.

WieNeu+ provides targeted funding to facilitate the development and roll-out of new and innovative solutions.

“Grätzlförderung” funding makes buildings fit for the future!

 

"Grätzlförderung" is an innovation funding scheme for technical projects. The focus here is on topics such as energy consumption, the transition to renewables, reducing consumption of resources (circularity), and greening and climate adaptation measures.
Find out more (German)

“Grätzlmarie”, the WieNeu+ ideas fund

 

"Grätzlmarie" is an ideas fund for local residents ("Marie" is the Viennese slang term for money). It provides funding for a wide range of projects and initiatives that help to make local neighbourhoods climate- and future-proof — from greening projects to recycling workshops and street parties.
Find out more (German)

“Grätzlinitiative 20+2”

 

"Grätzlinitiative 20+2", a cooperation between WieNeu+ and the Vienna Business Agency, was set up especially for the programme area. The initiative provides support for small local businesses wishing to optimise and future-proof their operations in a climate-friendly manner, the aim being to boost the local economy and revitalise the neighbourhood.
Find out more (German)

National and European funding

 

WieNeu+ makes use of these additional funding options to cooperate with external partners in developing new solutions for the city. The primary objective here is to strengthen strategic partnerships and tap into additional financial resources for the City of Vienna and its project partners.

With this in mind, WieNeu+ plays a key role in supporting partners who are interested in submitting applications for funding. This extends from identifying suitable funding programmes and support with project development, right through to assisting with submission and handling of the funding application. As a result, the programme is able to access significant amounts of funding that enable projects to be implemented in practice.

For this purpose, WieNeu+ regularly evaluates funding calls issued at national and European level — e.g. by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund and the European Commission (Horizon Europe, LIFE) — and works in close cooperation with the respective project consortia to prepare project submissions.

The impact of individual WieNeu+ measures will be assessed to determine how they contribute to the climate goals of the City of Vienna. The findings will be made available to as many actors in the city as possible as well as to the business community and the population.

Studies and research

 

WieNeu+ supports research projects and theses. Please feel free to contact us with suggestions for topics.

Urban renewal campaign “Wir SAN Wien”

 

The framework of WieNeu+ is provided by the urban renewal campaign “Wir SAN Wien” (We are/refurbish Vienna), which includes many projects in the field of smart solutions for the urban living space of the 21st century. This specific area is one of the key topics of the VIENNA 2030 Strategy.