Located in the city of Vienna, Austria, the project identifies a set of rules for establishing a sustainable urban neighborhood based on democratic principles of governance, communication, and participation. Instead of proposing a pre-designed urban tissue, the strategy tenders a collective pattern based on a grid of gardens that structure the area. The gardens function as a framework for physical and social development, outlining a porous fabric with low environmental impact and a collective space – reprogrammable in time, while furthering ownership capacity-building. The area will first operate as an urban park; a matrix of gardens is inserted around existing trees. Gradually the district grows around these gardens and the shared open space. The approach establishes a minimally-invasive intervention that will develop over time according to the needs of the society at every step – a continuous process of small scale growth and appropriation, with autonomy at every stage.

The Commons (GartenSTADT) project calls for an alternative to the conventional suburban free space that is emphasized not only in environmentally-friendly construction practices, but also in economic and social sustainability of the whole process. Therefore, our proposal for the ten hectare site area is a minimally-invasive intervention that will develop over time according to current societal needs, but never compromising the necessities of future generations.

Initially, the area will function as an urban park: we preserve the previous trees, and insert the matrix of gardens. A wide variety of actors (from large companies to individuals) can colonize these “extroverted” plots promoting a multi-scalar urban development. As colonization, the initial structure of gardens reduces the scale of action, as well as the environmental impact on the existing landscape. We keep the nature we find in there, promoting it later through our gardens-matrix and continuity of the green open space for the community.

In subsequent stages, the district will gradually grow around the gardens, configuring itself over time. It will always work as a pedestrian area on the inside, leaving road traffic outside, and always be connected to alternative mobility: trains, buses, bikes, car sharing, and so on.

The aim is to minimize the consumption of the site land, so that the gardens and the allmende (common land) will be the main characters, and take more importance in human relationships and wellness: a porous city. This allmende is a shared open space for the community, with self-sufficient and sustainable centralized management. Since it will consist of green surfaces, it reduces the environmental impact, and it is a low cost maintenance space. But it is also a space full of significance: it is a reprogrammable space with appropriation capacity, which will turn into a symbol for the neighborhood, with communal identity and civic involvement as a basis for the production of urban development.

The new district involves citizenship in the management of its buildings and their surrounding open spaces, in order to promote the micro-identity with the natural environment, equal citizenship and social responsibility. Participation is a cornerstone for the sustainable and democratic development of the area. We understand urban planning as an open collaborative process in which everyone can be represented.