From 2016 to 2021, Vienna worked with its partner cities Munich and Lyons on the beacon project “Smarter Together”, in which over 30 project partners piloted technical and social innovations in established urban neighbourhoods. The overarching objective was to promote sustainable renewal within the existing urban fabric.

Smarter Together was successfully completed at the end of August 2021. The comprehensive innovation project in the fields of smart city and urban renewal will be presented as part of the “IBA_Wien, Neues soziales Wohnen 2022”. The final report entitled “Smarter Togerher –  Urban Renewal with a Vision and Method” shows the diversity of the implementation projects on the one hand and focuses on the presentation of the underlying methods and processes on the other. It also includes a presentation of the many implementation and follow-up projects of the City of Vienna and the project partners that were already underway at the time of publication. Further information can be found here.

Simmering as a Smart City Hotspot

Local residents in Vienna’s Simmering  district were involved in some 40 individual projects within the project area, including e.g. building refurbishment works and an e-car sharing scheme at a housing complex in Hauffgasse. In autumn 2017 more than 6,000 local people took part in the mobility game “Beat the Street”.

Many local residents also visited the SIMmobil, the project’s mobile public outreach unit, or reserved an e-cargo bike direct and free of charge via www.graetzlrad.wien. Conventional e-bikes were also available to hire at gate 2 of Vienna Central Cemetery. Education likewise plays an important role in climate action. Smarter Together projects in the education sector included an extension to the school on Enkplatz with four brand-new zero-energy gymnasia, two solar benches and an array of educational workshops.  Smarter Together is also spearheaded the development of the Simmering Education Quarter centred on Enkplatz.

In line with the Smart City Wien ethos, a dedicated FIWARE open-source data platform enabled the analysis of all kinds of operational data for research purposes. Commercial project partners such as Siemens and Post AG used the data to develop smart logistics solutions, and a whole range of other partners from business and industry, R&D, civil society organisations and the municipal administration are collaborated closely under the initiative. Smarter Together stood out for its integrated approach to climate action and measures to enhance urban quality of life.

In 2017 “Smarter Together” won the VCO Mobility Award in the category “Active Mobility and Public Space”. Further information can be found here.

WieNeu+, the Follow-Up Program

The City of Vienna is rolling out the positive results achieved with the “Smarter Together” project in Simmering to further urban neighbourhoods. Further information can be found here.