Some Recent Trends in Settlement Development in Austria

According to the development of the settlement network in the Eastern-Central-European countries which had been primarily affected by the breakdown of the former communist “Eastern Block” the example of Austria having been a republican democratic state since the end of World War I –with some shorter interruptions (Austria-fascism and Nazi-rule) must be viewed in a different way. As opposed to the previous peoples republics which were ruled in a strong centralist way with, perhaps, the exception of Yugoslavia where the central government had delegated some administrative power on the regional level to its predominantly ethnic states, Austria, also as successor state of the Hapsburg Empire had decided for a federal republican administrative structure. This structure was based on the German speaking historic crown-land with the exception of the West-Hungarian Burgenland that was incorporated into Austria in 1923. Due to the new republican constitution the 7 former crown-lands became states or provinces of the Federal Republic of Austria. They were finally completed by the Burgenland and Vienna, which in addition to its function as the national capital city was also attributed the role of an own state (province). Thus Austria today comprises of nine states/provinces (Bundesländer). Since its introduction, the federal principle in Austria is as heavily questioned as it is advocated. Anyway, this federal structure is probably one of the most important factors steering the regional as well as the settlement development in Austria and is thus completely different from the situation beyond the former “Iron Curtain”.