New Urbanism in Historic City Centers? The Glocalization of Vienna's Historic City Center as an Art and Cultural Hub
- Author(s)
- Gerhard Hatz
- Abstract
Concepts of livable smart cities and smart urban growth have developed as a backlash to urban sprawl. However, these concepts refer to a romanticized historic interpretation of the ¿urban¿. The production of
¿human spheres¿ livable and smart, where residents find identity and feel ¿at home¿, has become one of the
visions of the cities of tomorrow. Initially put into practice in suburban communities, conceptualized by private developers and designed according to the visions of New Urbanism the production of ¿human
spheres¿ is accomplished by tight regulations on the physical environment and ¿declarations of covenants¿,
stretching beyond the public realm into the control of personal lives. In the rationales of an ¿Urban Renaissance¿ involving the regeneration of city centers as art and cultural hubs the production of ¿human
spheres¿ as well as new forms of urban design and control have been transferred to inner city areas.
The paper critically dissects the glocalized redesign of the Historic City Center of Vienna and stresses the local implications of the ¿exclusivity¿ and the exclusionary character of a culture-led development. The future transformation of Historic City Centers as mixed used functional centers of cities into ¿human spheres¿ is questioned as the concept of livable and smart cities is contrasted by the production of hegemonic and homogenized urban spaces.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geography and Regional Research
- Pages
- 391-402
- No. of pages
- 11
- Publication date
- 2009
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 507018 Urban and village renewal, 507019 Urban development planning, 507021 Urban history, 507 Human Geography, Regional Geography, Regional Planning
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/20b4b94f-ad45-4558-9a53-246a28082a39