City of Tomorrow initiative aims to make Austria more resource efficient

Learn about the South Burgenland Innovation Cluster for Integrated Regional Energy and Transport Systems

City of tomorrow Initiative is an Austrian programme for innovations in the field of building energy systems for cities thus contributing to the development of the smart-city approach in the country. The innovative solutions proposed under the initiative aim to make Austrian cities and districts within said cities more modern and resource-efficient and ready for the future demands of urban areas while at the same time build on the environmentally-friendly approach that needs to be applied.

Main objectives

The initiative has four main objectives which are both of economic and political importance. It aims at creating a sustainable energy system for the cities to meet the demands of the increasing urban population and the environmental protection and climate change targets. They fall directly under the second target which is the reduction of climate change impact. The economic objectives are supporting the increase in competitiveness bearing in mind the new realities of increase in the resource-efficiency consumption and the quality of R&D in the field.

The Innovation Cluster in South Burgenland

One of the best examples of success stories under this initiative is the Innovation Cluster in South Burgenland. The cluster`s aim is not only to meet the energy demands of the whole area but to make the supply of energy 100% renewable. The project includes activities such as using an integrated approach to energy and transport in order to create added value for the region. Several activities and projects, as well as numerous companies, are to be involved in the completion of this ambitious task.

One of the main innovations here is the creation of a living lab for cross-sector energy management which will devise a solution for customers whose annual energy consumption is below 100,000 kWh to store energy in different devices such as heat pump systems, battery storage systems and mobile storage systems like those for the electric vehicles, for example.

The cluster in Burgenland works towards innovative concepts for railway as well, using hydrogen as a fuel technology and its storage and supply throughout the whole railway system.

This operation and project may serve as an example for the whole country as well for other Member States to develop integrated systems that aim at the reduction of energy consumption, finding new ways of resource-efficient transport and sustainable development of their economies thus making them more competitive and environmentally-friendly and helping them to achieve their emission reduction and climate change targets.