Necessity and Possibilities of Cooperative Spatial and Economic Development in the Vienna Metropolitan Region

The study offers empirical analyses of the status and development of demographic and economic interdependencies in the metropolitan region of Vienna. Based on these findings as well as on stakeholder interviews and findings from the international literature, it considers how approaches to cooperative spatial and economic policy can be strengthened in Austria's largest conurbation and underpinned by concrete projects of common benefit. Our empirical analysis shows a functional agglomeration shaped by immigration and considerable demographic growth, whose heterogeneous subspaces are linked by very close commuter flows. Economically, different specialisations in core city and environs are identified, the linking of which may generate considerable synergies. According to our calculations, sector groups with a total of more than 0,5 million employees in these subregions could benefit from increased intra-metropolitan cooperation, while sector groups with more than 220,000 employees could significantly improve their competitive profile. Against this background, the study discusses possibilities for strengthening intra-metropolitan cooperation in the metropolitan region and identifies promising lines of action in spatial planning and settlement policy, in the common labour market as well as in policies to foster economic development, including considerations on the incentives and instruments necessary in these areas.