MEIDLINGER "L"-Participatory and scalable climate change adaptations in existing buildings at the intersection of public and private space

Status: completed (2022)

Content, goals and results

The exploratory study MEIDLINGER "L" focused on the preparation of an urban "Grätzl" transformation in the Rosaliagasse at the Meidlinger Markt in Vienna, in order to make a local contribution to the achievement of the climate goals and a climate change adaptation and improvement of the "Grätzl" situation together with the City of Vienna and the citizens as well as experts from economy and science.

The question "How can climate change adaptations be realised in existing buildings, at the interface of public and private space, in order to reduce urban heat islands and to strengthen the self-organisation of the residents?" was answered.

MEIDLINGER "L" stands for a self-supporting basic structure to accommodate upstream climbing aids, soil- and trough-bound greenery, automated irrigation, individually configurable balcony modules, additive photovoltaic elements, advertising plug-in signs, and is therefore as upstream "scaffolding" an interface of public to private space. Innovative approaches for new public-private partnerships and sustainable financing models were studied in the exploratory phase. In addition to enhancing the public space (horizontal level), the goal was to provide additional green open space to the residential space through individually configurable balcony modules (vertical level). The project followed a holistic approach and answered questions of process design, legal, financial, organisational and social framework conditions as well as technical questions about combinable greening and energy technologies. It clarified which barriers and obstacles exist for implementation, installation and maintenance as well as for financing models and provided solutions to overcome them.

The project was led by GRÜNSTATTGRAU, as overcoming this "missing link" represents the achievement of an important milestone for the mission of the Innovation Lab as well and focused on the target area Vienna. Therefore, together with the partners, the public sector (MA18, MA22), population (citizens' initiative MEI MEIDLING), architecture and participation (EIGENSINN), economy (Scharinger) and science (BOKU-IBLB, tbw Research), a close cooperation was established to develop a scalable and multipliable model for Vienna and other cities in the form of this project.

MEIDLINGER "L" as an exploratory project served as preparation for a demo project (prototype) to be realised at Rosaliagasse 1-7 in 1120 Vienna (district Meidling). The exploratory project created the possibility to prepare green infrastructure as a central climate change adaptation measure in a holistic approach on Grätzlebene for potential implementations. The results of the concepts regarding mobility, energy generation, added value for the residents as well as greening options can now be transferred to the first step of a demo project and to other districts or cities in order to initiate similar processes.

The feasibility of the MEIDLINGER "L" as a self-supporting basic construction was assessed by the project participants. The complexity was analysed and obstacles and hurdles were defined and solutions found.

The transformation of the public street space also offers the possibility of applying forward-looking and climate-relevant superstructures and fixtures, as well as significantly increasing the quality of stay and generating added value for the residents.

Project management

GRÜNSTATTGRAU Research- und Innovations GmbH

Project or cooperation partners

• public authorities: MA18, MA22
• citizens' initiative MEI MEIDLING
• Architecture and participation: EIGENSINN Sigrid Mayer
• Economy: A GRÜNSTATTGRAU, Scharinger
• Science: BOKU-IBLB, TBW Research
• Financing: LOI donor CONDA and financial expert Dr. Christian Temmel
• Legal advice: LOI donor Peter Wirth

DI Susanne Formanek
Favoritenstrasse 50
A-1040 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (966) 424 37 420
E-mail: Susanne.formanek@gruenstattgrau.at
Web: www.grünstattgrau.at