Fiscal Impact Analysis on City Development Projects

Together with the Department of Spatial Development, Infrastructure and Environmental Planning of the Vienna University of Technology, WIFO investigated the fiscal profitability of urban development projects on the basis of two development projects of the City of Vienna. In an impact analysis, all public expenditures associated with the development project – including long-term public expenditures – were compared with the revenues with budget effects expected from the project in the long term. The calculations are based on a time horizon of 40 years and take into account the various phases of planning, development and use of the urban development area. Scenarios on the basis of alternative planning parameters were compared with a scenario based on the currently used plan parameters in order to obtain information on the sensitivity of the results to alternative determinations regarding settlement structure and urban development. Last but not least, the results of the case study should form the basis for the development of a standardised procedure for fiscal impact analysis in the regular operation of the administration.