Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn

Visual impact by high-rise construction project

As requested by the Committee, a joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS monitoring mission took place to the site from 15 to 17 March 2006 to review the situation of the project of a proposed high-rise structure in the Meidling area. The mission concluded that the proposed development project at the Kometgründe-Meidling in close proximity to the World Heritage property would have considerable impact on the integrity of the site. The suggested reduction of the high-rise tower from 120m to 90m, proposed by the architects in the first review of the project in February 2006, did not substantially change the situation. The mission suggested the general necessity for the development of the Meidling area to be based on a different architectural concept and integrated in a broader urban planning context. As an outcome of the mission’s discussions with the authorities, the responsible planning authority of the City of Vienna announced on 17 March 2006 to stop the high-rise project of the Kometgründe-Meidling, and to support the development of the area through smaller scale projects.

In terms of the management of the World Heritage property, the mission noted that the competences and formal responsibilities for the World Heritage property are much diversified, and therefore suggested the need to improve dialogue between all stakeholders and to set clear rules in site management to ensure future sustainable use and preservation of the values of the World Heritage property. To this end, the mission underlined the need to elaborate a comprehensive management plan for the property based on the requirements of the Convention. In addition, the mission proposed to improve specific national legislation enabling harmonization of development and preservation of cultural values in their tangible and intangible dimension in order to improve the management of the World Heritage property.

Concerning high-rise development in Vienna in general, the mission further pointed out that the issue of high-rise buildings in the panorama of Vienna is very complex and not limited to this specific case. Although the city authorities have at their disposal planning instruments controlling land use density, height and location of high-rise buildings, the implementation of these tools does not clearly reflect the World Heritage status of the city, and priorities for protection of cultural heritage. It is suggested that the city coordinates closely with the national heritage preservation authorities and related professional bodies for the further development of the vision of Vienna, so as to fine-tune the “High-rise Concept of Vienna” adopted in 2002.