Beyond the City Limits—Smart Suburban Regions in Austria

The majority of the population in Austria lives and interacts in (sub)urban regions. Their areas of activity cross the borders of cities, municipalities, and countries. The urban regions consist of the core city and the catchment areas, and the balance and the equilibrium between the city and its surroundings is very important for sustainable spatial development. The size of the urban regions in Austria ranges from small- and medium-sized regions to polycentric agglomerations and the metropolis of Vienna. Nevertheless, urban regions are currently not sufficiently defined by type of region nor established at the planning or action level among political and administrative stakeholders. One of the reasons is that urban regions as functional spaces with flexible borders extend beyond political and administrative borders. Due to this lack of clarity with respect to political responsibility for urban regions, it is often difficult to find support for urban–regional cooperation on the political level. The “Agenda for Urban Regions in Austria” is a first milestone to implement an Austrian policy for its urban regions. It identifies measures for regional actors and especially policymakers on different administrative levels to remain urban regions sustainable in the future and to encourage and support collaboration. Urban regions have to master challenges in many different fields covering the entire spectrum of spatial development. They have to take actions to improve mobility and accessibility across city borders, to secure free space for everyone by a prudent use of free space and natural resources and to support diversity and cohesion to provide space for the diversity of lifestyles. A very important action is the sustainable development of settlements and business locations through improved interaction of cities and municipalities within urban regions to achieve more for less investment. One of the key points is that urban regions practice governance to support cooperation among their actors. The steering and coordination of the spatial development in urban regions (i.e., the governance) affects not only various actors in urban regions but also the coordination between federal government, provinces, municipalities, and cities. With the establishment of governance structures in urban regions, steering and coordination areas will be adjusted to functional areas. In this way, it is possible to solve spatial challenges jointly, to bundle resources and to raise the willingness to cooperate among the actors in urban regions.