Americanization of Vienna´s suburbia?

In the metropolitan region of Vienna, suburbanization processes set in comparatively late. Up to now the level of suburbanization has clearly stayed on a lower level than in other metropolitan areas of like size in Austria, Germany or Switzerland. In recent years however some housing projects have been realized, which, due to their qualitative characteristics, are quite an interesting subject of research for the spatial and social sciences. `Fontana`, the exclusive housing and leisure estate situated in the southern outskirts of Vienna, stands as an example for suburban development tendencies. The project goal is to describe on which (probably altered) perceptions and preferences of the actors involved (investors, planners, inhabitants) this development process is based on and whether it is exemplary for Vienna`s surrounding area changing from `suburbia` to `postsuburbia`. Besides offering exclusive housing, this highly segregated, multifunctional housing estate includes refined recreation facilities (golf, fitness, gastronomy) aimed at a specific target group. Because the whole concept is supposedly orientated towards US-American examples (gated community or lifestyle community showing formal elements of new urbanism) it needs to be examined if - from the structural and aesthetic perspective - the `Americanization` of the urban area of Vienna is progressing. First of all, the current status of the theoretical discourse about postmodern development in urban regions within the German-speaking scientific community will be outlined. It has to come under close scrutiny whether (sometimes extreme) American examples like Los Angeles served as direct or indirect `sources of inspiration` and whether models and concepts deduced from observations in the US are applicable to Europe at all. Moreover, most of the current hypothesis or terminologies are situated on a highly abstract level. For this reason they are not capable of explaining specific phenomena of the real world. Therefore, on the second - empirical - stage, `Fontana` will not only be examined by its structure and shape; furthermore an extensive qualitative field research will bring the perceptions and motivations of the actors to light, which will then make the establishment of a `local theory` possible. The third part of the project will try to put the findings which have been gathered on two different scales, into context. It will be clarified whether it is legitimate to use models and concepts of US-American research as an explanatory approach for `Fontana` or whether on the contrary this housing project - despite its obvious reference to American prototypes - should rather be seen and assessed as a specifically European variety of urban development under the conditions of globalization. Apart from the discipline of spatial science, the research project can also help in the fields of planning and politics, sharpening the awareness for the fact that urban development is increasingly determined by individual and varying factors, which are hardly taken into consideration in practical planning so far.

The social and regional sciences have, for several decades, largely engaged the concept of suburbanization or dynamic pattern of settlements around major cities. When considering the question of living arrangements, it has often been asked just why do people prefer to settle and live around the periphery of a city? Is it because of the renowned dream of "living in green" that conforms to the "American way of life"? The project tilted, "Die Amerikanisierung der Wiener Suburbia" (The Americanization of Vienna`s Suburbia?) is intensively concerned with the type of settlement structures that could be found around cities and focuses on the residential and recreational settlement of Fontana in the town of Oberwaltersdorf, Austria outside of Vienna. At first glance, Fontana seems to be a typical `lifestyle-community` that is modeled after communities which could be typically found in America: Large blocks of houses that have a uniform design and are located along a lake or a golf course. Such a community is unique among the Austrian landscape and is privately financed by Austro- Canadian investors. This research project was divided into three levels of analysis which used such methods as expert interviews as well as analysis of categories of urban development and intensive interviews with residents of such categories in order to determine in a comprehensive manner the extent Fontana exists as a special development case compared to other settlements around Vienna. The results will show which aspects make Fontana a real pioneer project in Austria considering its conceptual design and configuration as well as in such aspects as financing and development. On the other hand, however, it could be shown that Fontana does not exist as an example of a "typical American community" and certainly not as a "gated community" which is characterized by its closed and guarded living arrangements that are not necessarily desired by many residents. Also, from the perspective of residents of such developments, it is not necessarily the proximity to golf courses or the image of a `high-end` development that makes a community desirable but rather it is its image as a place that provides its residents with a common feeling of `neighborliness` and allows for a normal way of life on its premises. Also, from a regional planning perspective, Fontana could be classified as a special settlement project while, at the same time, it merits having regional implications. Despite its regional significance, private investors were given a free hand in its creation.