The Development of the City – The City of Developers?

Discussion with:

Christian Kühn, Dean of Studies TU Vienna, ao Professor at the Institute of Architecture and Design, TU Vienna
Christoph Luchsinger, Professor at the Institute of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, TU Vienna
Thomas Madreiter, Director of Planning of the City of Vienna
Dietmar Steiner, Director of the Az W
Silja Tillner, Architekten Tillner & Willinger
Bernd Vlay, studiovlay / Lina Streeruwitz
Klaus Wolfinger, lawyer and consultant for property development
Presenter: Anh-Linh Ngo editor ARCH+

The city develops through the interaction of many different actors, including politicians, architects, users and, not least importantly, investors. Clashes of interests can lead to conflicts. Large commercial projects in which achieving maximum profit is seen as more important than the interests of a functioning city repeatedly spark off heated debates but are ultimately accepted as the fate of urban development. Is there a way out of this apparently insoluble conflict between public and commercial interests in urban development?

At a time in which the municipal authorities regularly enter into partnerships with private firms, the role of the public administration has changed. Which instruments exist (or ought to exist) in order to ensure that, alongside achieving quality, commercial projects also result in an added value for the city and the public? Architects and architecture centres have a duty to awaken the “architectural and urban planning conscience of capital“. Ultimately, investors are important actors in the city who will not disappear but whom we must try to influence.