4 minute read
Advocate of infrastructure expansion
World Champion Austria spoke to Vienna’s location advocate Alexander Biach about his first year in office and future projects.
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As 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.
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 municipal 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
The task of a location advocate is not only about new projects: Alexander Biach and his team contributed significantly to saving Austrian Airlines.
in a national and international context before, during and after the Covid crisis. In addition, we calculated the economic effects and the significance of Austrian Airlines as a flag carrier for Vienna. We contributed massively to saving Austrian Airlines with this analysis. Vienna as business location is going to benefit strongly from it.
Let’s look into the future: what’s next? The entire region of Vienna is growing. Many things need to be re-evaluated because of the Covid crisis and its social and economic effects. But we can be sure that the end of the world won’t come and we need to look forward. We need to kickstart the economy. We need a number of measures and modernising and expanding the existing infrastructure is a really important pillar. There are a lot of projects, in any case. We need to address the questions surrounding local traffic, commuting and goods traffic with a new overall concept. We also need a modern and sustainable digital infrastructure for Vienna. And we need investments into urban development and the medical infrastructure.
We are approaching the end of the year and Christmas is not far away. What is on your wish list for Father Christmas – as a location advocate, of course? The top priority is to leave the pandemic behind as quickly as possible. The virus is invisible but is turning the whole world upside down. We will continue to feel its tremors in society, politics and the economy for a long time. But there are also positives that we can take from it. We saw that people stick together when the going gets tough. The high flexibility of businesses and employees when it came to working from home was remarkable. We have made a fundamental step towards a digital society this year; otherwise we would have needed several years. The real economy has arrived in the digital age. I am positive and optimistic that Vienna as a business location will get out of the crisis well. I wish this for all the people who live and work here. And I will fight for this as the location advocate. ◆
Location advocate Vienna
The location advocate is tasked to highlight the economic significance and public benefits such as energy supply, job protection and tax revenue in planning permissions and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). To achieve this, the location advocate has been given legal standing in EIAs by federal law.
The City of Vienna expanded these competences on a provincial level. The location advocate will be able to take part in projects and give expert opinions on projects that do not require an EIA such as projects for the expansion of public transport and road infrastructure, land use planning and urban expansion.
