Sustainable and Future-Oriented Urban Development in Vienna & Barcelona

Abstract

The current situation in urban areas and the increasing proportion of the world's population living in cities are leading to massive sustainability problems, which is why buzzwords such as sustainability, environmental protection, global warming, the Internet of Things and smart cities are omnipresent. Taking Vienna and Barcelona as examples, this paper tries to find out, how modern cities deal with these current challenges. The basis for this quantitative content analysis are the so-called "Urban Development Plans" (UDP), which record not only the current situation but also future developments. The UDP can thus be used as a basis for advising politicians by urban planners and serves the political leadership as an instrument or as a decision-making or orientation aid. It can ultimately be concluded that modern cities have a crucial role in sustainable development and thus play a central position in the application of advanced technologies to support sustainable urbanisation. In short, urban growth raises a variety of issues that threaten the sustainability of cities, as it places a huge burden on urban systems and ecosystem services. Clearly, major advances in urban design are needed to address these problems and specific issues. In this regard, modern cities are required to develop or implement more innovative solutions and sophisticated approaches, as this is necessary not only to monitor cities, but rather to understand, analyse and plan them. Ultimately, this work tries to find out whether there are differences in the smart city strategies of Vienna and Barcelona, or whether both cities - although spatially separated - have the same points on their agenda.