21st Century (2000–present)

Vienna STEP 2025

city/region · Austria · Western & Central Europe · Transit-oriented urbanism and corridor planning · Planned by City of Vienna

Map of the target areas of urban development (Zielgebiete der Stadtentwicklung) defined under Vienna's STEP urban development plan. · Copyright Stadt Wien (credited) · Stadt Wien, MA 21 Stadtteilplanung und Flaechenwidmung

Core idea

Citywide development strategy (growth corridors)

Why it matters

Balances growth with high-quality public realm

Description

STEP 2025 is the citywide urban development plan of the City of Vienna, adopted in 2014 as the successor to earlier Stadtentwicklungsplan documents, setting out how the city would accommodate substantial population growth to 2025. It designated growth corridors and target areas linked to public transport, alongside thematic strategies for green space, public realm and polycentric centres, coordinated with major expansion sites such as Aspern Seestadt.

Significance

STEP 2025 is often cited as an exemplar of growth management in a city consistently ranked among the world's most liveable, combining corridor-based expansion with Vienna's long tradition of social housing and high-quality public space. It illustrates how a strong municipal planning culture can steer rapid growth without sacrificing everyday urban quality, and it informed subsequent European debates on liveability-led strategic planning.

What shaped it

Transit-oriented development (TOD) (1993)
The compact city (1973-1990s)
Sustainable development (Brundtland) (1987)
The Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities (2007 (renewed 2020))

Sources

Open it on the interactive timeline →

hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.