World Champion Austria Vienna
Advocate and supporter of infrastructure expansion World Champion Austria spoke to Vienna’s location advocate Alexander Biach about his first year in office and future projects.
Mr Biach, why does Vienna need a location advocate? It isn’t only Vienna that needs a location advocate – all provinces do. I’m therefore particularly happy that one year after our idea of having a location advocate received a legal mandate this position has become so well established. Location advocates are now involved in Environmental Impact Assessments and appraisals in all nine provinces. Furthermore, we managed to create more understanding for important infrastructure projects on all levels. In Vienna we are on good terms with policymakers and businesses. Thanks to our activities we were able to calculate and highlight the economic significance of construction projects and modernisations of infrastructure. When you present people with facts and figures that a new, modern infrastructure creates jobs and added value, that gives you an edge in international competition over other business locations and that is more efficient and climate-friendly. On top, they will be more appreciative of projects. After all, infrastructure makes peoples’ lives simpler and better. It is a location advocate’s job to get this across. When you are looking back at your first year as Vienna’s location advocate, what do you remember most? How did the first year go in general? My team and I started well. Thanks to an agreement with the City of Vienna we were able to expand the location advocate’s competences set by federal law by a few specific projects in the province. Now, we are working closely with the City Hall and Vienna’s munic-
ipal administration. We calculate the economic effects of regional projects such as the bridge maintenance programme, the revival of shopping streets and the expansion of public transport. Furthermore, we have received Austria’s State Prize for Public Relations in the category Specialist Projects/Innovations for implementing the idea of adding a location advocate to its legal establishment. It is a nice award to have and confirms our good work. But then the Covid crisis took hold with the lockdown and all its economic effects. We actually published a paper on how Vienna’s economy is developing
Photo: Weinwurm
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s of July 2019, Vienna has a location advocate in Alexander Biach, established by federal law. He will have legal standing in future Environmental Impact Assessments to highlight the economic advantages of infrastructure projects according to his job description, when his position was revealed. We spoke to him about his tasks.
Alexander Biach, Vienna’s location advocate
