Various cities around the world today are now taking steps to lessen their carbon footprints for the long term. In Austria, Vienna is committed to creating a green city through various means.
The city’s mayor himself Michael Haupl is leading the campaign called “Smart City” that aims to make the Austrian capital one of Europe’s greenest and most sustainable cities in the future. This is also in response to the environmental issues posed by a growing population of the city predicted to reach two million by the year 2030.
The Smart City project will focus on cutting car traffic from the present 28 percent to 15 percent. To achieve this goal, public transport links will be expanded to include areas outside of Vienna. These include the U5 metro line and the S-Bahn underground network. Additionally, cycle paths around the city will also be improved and extended.
Apart from transportation infrastructures, the city government will also require all new buildings to be built using low-energy technology. This is expected to begin by 2018 and hopefully will cut energy consumption for heating, cooling and hot water by one percent per capita.
As the city also increases its use of renewable energy sources, the Vienna government expects to cover half of the city’s energy demand by 2050.
In addition to this major green city project, Vienna Mayor Haupl has high hopes to make the metropolis as one of Europe’s top five centres of research.
