DECEMBER/JANUARY ISSUE

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Size 420 km²

Population 1.7 Mio.

1. Business location 

Economic center in the heart of Europe

Vienna is among the ten economically most powerful cities in Europe. Vienna is the driving force behind the Austrian economy and has also established itself as a hub for the booming East-West business. Experts emphasize that Vienna profited substantially from the opening of Eastern Europe. As a result, about 40 per cent of the sales and profits reported by Vienna’s economy are already generated in the Central and Eastern European countries. The latter are expected to continue playing an important role as Vienna’s future and emerging markets. In Vienna, a mere fifth of the Austrian population generates more than one fourth of the Austrian economic performance. Vienna is one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. Vienna has been among the most flourishing cities and wealthiest regions in the EU for many years, as evidenced continuously by data of the EU’s statistical office Eurostat. Based on these statistics, Vienna’s economic growth, expressed in EU purchasing power standards, has been between 166 and 178 per cent of the average of all EU Member States. Hence, Vienna’s per-capita gross regional product is almost double the EU average. Statistically speaking, only London, Luxembourg, Brussels or Hamburg are richer than Vienna.

Hub for Central and Eastern Europe

Today more than 300 international corporations (such as Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Beiersdorf or BASF) have chosen the Vienna Region as the headquarters of their Eastern European operations. More than 150 of the international corporations are directly located in Vienna. This number has more than doubled in the past four years. The "CEE City Ranking 2009", carried out by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, confirms Vienna's excellent position in the region. It ranks Vienna first among ten Central and Eastern European capitals and particularly recognizes Vienna's competitive edges in areas such as infrastructure, innovation, internationality, quality of living, education and culture.

Globally leading congress city

Vienna tops the statistics of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) for the fifth time in a row. In the ranking for 2009 Vienna - hosting 160 international congresses – ranks unchallenged in the first place followed by cities like Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Singapore and Berlin. This year’s biggest conference was the world's most important conference on AIDS and HIV, which was held in Vienna from 18 to 23 July. Around 20.000 participants from more than 190 countries participated in the event.

2. "Green Vienna" 

World’s most livable city 

In 2010, Vienna has been selected for the second time in a row as the city with the world’s best quality of living in an annual survey of 221 international cities.

As in the previous year, the world champion title in quality of life was awarded to Vienna by the Mercer Group, a leading global provider of consulting, investment management and other services. In particular the efficient infrastructure, the public transport, the health care system and the supply of green spaces in Vienna are principal reasons for the award. Vienna is also the safest city in the world of all cities with more than one million inhabitants.

World’s most sustainable city 

In October 2010, Vienna for the first time has been awarded “World City Closest to Sustainable Waste Management”. The award is in recognition of the exceptional efforts the city has made to improve environmental protection and sustainability in the field of waste management. The price was awarded by the international waste organizations WTERT (Waste-to-Energy Research and Technology Council) and SUR (Council for Sustainable Use of Resources). The high-class jury consisted of 20 international experts in the field of waste management – scientists and engineers from the WTERT advisory board and the University of Columbia, New York. The prize was aimed at all metropolises with populations of more than 250,000 inhabitants. Greenest European city with more than one million inhabitants, Vienna was ranked 4th in the "European Green City Index" (2009), a study of the environmental sustainability of 30 major European cities carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Vienna scored highest among all European cities with more than one million inhabitants and was particularly praised for its excellent water quality and use of renewable energies.

Vienna Know-How – Urban Technologies and Strategies 

Vienna is internationally renowned for its quality of live and its environmental sustainability. What makes Vienna so special in comparison to other cities are its innovative solutions and strategies in the provision of municipal services in the areas water, environment, waste and mobility.

3. Vienna Tourism – “Something Old & Something New” 

With its successful blend of imperial tradition and contemporary creativity, the Austrian capital has established itself as a major player in the global tourism market. In 2009, 4.4 million visitors racked up a total of 9.8 million nights in Vienna. While this represented a decline of 3.8 per cent on the record-breaking previous year, it was still the second best total in what was an exceptionally challenging economic climate. From January to October 2010, the Vienna Tourist Board recorded 9,117.000 nights, compared to 2009, an increase of 10,9 percent. The recent published figures represent a new visitor record for the Austrian capital.

Economic Impact of tourism in Vienna:

The Vienna tourist industry is also of enormous economic importance. Vienna is one of Europe’s most successful destinations of city tourism. Based on economic research, the income from Vienna’s tourism is amount to approximately 4 billion euros. This is almost 6 per cent of Vienna’s gross regional product and more than 15 per cent of Austria’s total income from tourism.

4. Center of International Diplomacy 

Vienna is the only city in the European Union to host one of the four United Nations headquarters in addition to New York, Geneva and Nairobi. The Vienna International Center was inaugurated over 30 years ago. In total, there are some 30 International Organizations (IOs) based in Vienna including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In addition, there are roughly 76 international NGOs based in Vienna. Some 5,400 employees work at the IO’s offices in the Austrian capital.

5. Integration 

One in three Viennese has a migration background. This diversity is reflected in the services provided by the City of Vienna and in the staff composition of the Vienna City Administration. Vienna’s Integrations-System provides an emphatic and transparent immigration procedure. For this purpose an Immigration-Commission has been established. Commitment to democracy, human rights and women’s rights are not arguable. Vienna supports the immigrants to settle down, especially by offering language courses. In special training seminars important guidelines for living together, rights and obligations are communicated.

6. Culture

Cultural centre and city of waltz, Vienna has about 21,000 theater and concert seats. In addition to the regular seasonal programs in Vienna's concert halls there are approximately 2,500 large events every year, i.e. about seven large events per day.

Vienna is also renowned for its unique ball tradition. About 450 balls with about 300,000 guests take place in Vienna each year. By the way, the renowned and colorful Life Ball is Europe's largest AIDS charity event. Vienna is known for its tradition as well as its modern day culture.

Tradition: 

In Vienna there is so much to see, especially the imperial legacy – from Gothic St. Stephen’s Cathedral to the Imperial Palace, from the magnificent baroque Schönbrunn Palace  to the Belvedere Palace and the Spanish Riding School.

Vienna is also known for its musical life, Viennese waltz, the State Opera, the Philharmonic Orchestra, the theaters and the museums.  

Modern day culture: 

Vienna’s modern-day culture is one of the most dynamic urban spaces in all of Europe. People from all over the world enjoy this modern metropolis with its stimulating cultural calendar. Just to name a few examples:

Lifeball: http://www.lifeball.org/index.php?lang=en

Taking place in May, it's definitely the most creative and colorfull ball. This AIDS charity event was started in 1993 and became quickly the biggest, most successful event of its kind throughout Europe. The ball's aim is rather obvious: fund raising to support various AIDS related activities from preventation to counselling and direct aid to HIV positive people. But Life Ball is more than mere fund raising. It is a statement for life in all its aspects. Life Ball 2011 will take place on May 21st.

Viennale: http://www.viennale.at/english/index.shtml

In 1960, Vienna's major film festival Viennale took place for the first time. Since then it has aimed to present international and Austrian films of high-quality and is proud of its international reputation. Usually, about 200 films, documentaries and short films are broadcasted and attract more than 70,000 visitors! In 2011  the Film Festvial takes place from October 20th to November 2nd.

Vienna Festival Weeks: http://www.festwochen.at/index.php?id=49&L=1&detail=  

Each year between May and June, this festival presents theatre, music and dance productions arranged by famous artists from around the world. The content of the productions ranges from classical baroque concerts to modern dance and comical theatre performances. 2011, the Vienna Festival Weeks will take place from May 13th to June 19th.

Donauinselfest http://portal.donauinselfest.at/  

Open-air festival 'Donauinselfest' has taken place over 20 times and is a favourite among locals and visitors. The festival is organised once a year and spreads all over the popular recreational mecca Danube Island. It attracts up to 3 million visitors with free entry and international stars. The island can easily accommodate this amount of visitors: More than 19 stages ('isles') offer entertainment from pop, rock, jazz to hip hop. 2011, the Festival takes place from June 24th - 26th.

Vienne Art Week:  http://viennaartweek.at  

The VIENNA ART WEEK, which began six years ago with the idea of moving renowned Viennese art institutions, museums, and galleries into an international focus by joining forces as the Art Cluster Vienna to advance Vienna’s self-marketing as an art location, has developed into an annual highlight and successful European art festival. Next year, the Vienna art week is going to take place from   November 14th - 19th.

MuseumsQuartier: http://www.mqw.at/en/start/?page=1

Opened in 2001, the MuseumsQuartier Wien is one of the ten largest cultural complexes in the world and offers space for modern and contemporary art and culture on a surface of about 60,000 m2 (around 64500 sqft). It is home to numerous large, medium-sized, and small cultural facilities. It views itself as a place for cultural diversity, experimentation, communication, education, continuous activity and change. The spectrum ranges from large art museums like the LEOPOLD MUSEUM (with the world's largest collection of works by Egon Schiele) and the MUMOK (Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien) to contemporary art exhibition spaces like the KUNSTHALLE Wien.

MAK - Museum für angewandte Kunst - http://www.mak.at/e/jetzt/f_jetzt.htm

Founded in 1864 as the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry,  restructured and remodeled in 1986, the MAK is a major cultural center in Vienna. With an extraordinary collection of applied and contemporary art, the MAK serves a dual purpose as a conservator of significant art objects and as a center for the scientific research of art with a special emphasis on its production, preservation, and reorientation.  

In Southern California MAK is very well known for it Los Angeles Branch - the MAK Center (see separate article)

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