Acquisition of land for social housing
Since 1984, Vienna’s Fund for Land Management and Urban Renewal (wohnfonds_wien) has been responsible for the acquisition and provision of land for social housing. It currently holds around 2.8 million square metres of land. Because of its reserves and long-term planning horizon, wohnfonds_ wien is still able to buy agricultural land or brownfield land on good terms, despite the increasing price of land.
Use zoning for land acquisition
Tight co-operation between wohnfonds_wien and the city’s planning department is important as it ensures that land is reserved for social housing in urban development areas. wohnfonds_wien as a socially responsible land developer is accountable to a board with strong public policy interests. Sites are bought in accordance with the STEP and in co-ordination with the City of Vienna. In addition, wohnfonds_wien acts as land developer for these sites. In this role, it also organises developers’ competitions as they are an effective instrument.
STEP
The Urban Development Plan (Stadtentwicklungsplan, STEP) is an instrument used in forward-looking urban planning and urban development, which generally defines the further step-by-step expansion of the city. It is generated by Municipal Department 18 (MA 18) – Urban Development and Planning in co-operation with other experts and departments. This plan lays down the distribution of building land and green-belt land, and also delineates development areas and defines their relationship with the overall transport infrastructure (Vienna underground, commuter trains, tram lines and high-capacity railway and motorway routes). Furthermore, it shows the spatial/ functional relationships between the city and the surrounding areas.
