BiotopCity is a pilot project for the conversion of a former industrial area, the CocaCola site in the south of Vienna, initiated by the urban planner Helga Fassbinder.
The planning process was organized as a cooperative procedure among architects, social scientists and landscape architects. The result was a comlex masterplan including the future building structure and the landscape structure. The open space masterplan follows a grammar in which the guiding principles of ecologically oriented planning are combined with the claim of an ambitious open space design. The intention was to create a varied landscape ensemble at the interface of the natural recreation landscape of the Wienerberg (formerly serving as a clay quarry) and the densely built city - with a wide range of habitats for plants and animals.
In the preliminary design the open spaces were further specified, the north-south landscape strips as well as the more urban areas “Mikroachse” and “Quartiersplatz”.