The 100th park in Vienna’s Donaustadt is finally open to the public

The park is part of the Vienna Green Space Offensive, a push to renovate and build 400,000 square meters of park space by 2025

Today, Vienna City Councilor for Climate Change, Jürgen Czernohorszky, inaugurated the 100^th park in the Donaustadt (Danube City) district. The site is called Elinor-Ostrom-Park and is a part of Seestadt Aspern, one of the largest urban development areas in Europe and a new neighbourhood for the city.

The park is part of the Vienna Green Space Offensive, an initiative spearheaded by the Vienna Progressive Coalition with the aim of creating or renovating 400,000 square metres of greenery in the city. Elinor-Ostrom-Park, in its own right, has an integrated metro station, sporting facilities, a biodiverse plant selection and makes use of as much rainwater as it can, through an innovative irrigation system and the Viennese sponge city concept.

Sports and leisure

The park is named after Elinor Ostrom, an American professor of political science and the first-ever winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. At the same time, the resulting project was the product of public participation, where citizens from the area pitched in their ideas and needs to make the park a more holistic feature of the local urban environment.

Elinor-Ostrom-Park has around 170 tree species, with additional local bushes to help biodiversity build-up, as well as a twice-a-year mowing schedule for the grassy areas. This would ensure it becomes a suitable refuge for birds, insects and small mammals. At the same time, much of the irrigation will happen with a rainwater retention system.

Furthermore, it is also equipped with the first Viennese bicycle training grounds – an area of narrow paths and hills people can use to hone their skills. It also has playgrounds and sporting equipment to satisfy the widest possible range of urban activities.

The Green Space Offensive

Vienna was able to break ground on 23 park projects this year, pushing hard for that 400,000 square metre area by 2025. Some of them include the Freie Mitte, the largest new park since 1974, or the new beaches on the Danube and even more are set to be complete by the end of the year.

City Councillor for Climate Change, Jürgen Czernohorszky, was quoted in a press release, saying: “The park also impresses with its sustainable rainwater management and a focus on biodiversity. In this way, not only has a new Grätzl meeting point and a leisure oasis been created, but also an ecological showcase park."

Angelika Pipal-Leixner, City spokeswoman for Mobility and the Environment pointed out the significant cooling effects an unsealed area in the city provides, in the face of ever-rising temperatures. She added: “If we create a green oasis in their vicinity for everyone living in Vienna, we will do a lot to maintain the high quality of life.”