7.6 Städte.Gärten.Vielfalt (Cities.Gardens.Diversity)

7. Projects from the Neighbourhood development pillar

Three-part image: on the left, a flowerbed by the pavement prepared for planting, with plant pots lying on the ground and a person in the background. In the centre, an information poster bearing the words ‘Your flower could be here’, and on the right, a photo of an information tent on the opposite side of the road, in front of a tree and a Gründerzeit-style house.

Fig. 99: A roadside flowerbed for everyone with the "Städte.Gärten.Vielfalt." project. © City of Vienna/Julia Haberfellner

"Städte.Gärten.Vielfalt" is an Interreg project in cooperation with Bratislava, with Global 2000 as the project lead. The project will see the two cities implementing urban gardening projects over a three-year period to enhance biodiversity.

The pilot area in Vienna is Jägerstraße in the 20th district, between Wallensteinplatz and Gaußplatz. Flowerbeds were installed on the two grass verges and planted with a specially selected biodiverse seed mixture to create a habitat for insects, particularly butterflies and bees.

The residents of Jägerstraße now have the opportunity to take on the care of one of the flowerbeds. As part of a community planting workshop in the spring, local residents who had signed a care & maintenance agreement were able to help with the planting of their own personal flowerbed.

To date, approx. 50% of the available flowerbeds have been allocated, with a further 25% to follow in autumn 2025 and the final 25% in spring 2026. The development of the plants is regularly monitored by Global 2000. WieNeu+ has commissioned the Local Urban Renewal Office to manage the community participation aspects.

In the foreground, there are lots of small flower pots ready to be planted in the flowerbed next to the pavement. Behind them, a woman is standing with a flower pot in her hand, talking to a young man behind her. Other people can be seen in the background in front of a ground-floor café.

Takeaways & challenges

High demand from the local community to take on the care of a flowerbed in the public space.
After the intense interest at the start, the task now is to keep the urban gardeners engaged over the long term.
The increasingly hot summers in Vienna are a major challenge, especially with regard to care and maintenance of green spaces.
Long-term acceptance of the project needs to be fostered within the local neighbourhood to help prevent vandalism and littering as far as possible.

Project partners

Global 2000 (environmental protection NGO)
Local Area Renewal Office (GB*Mitte)