What happens to the East-West Cornucopia? Regional development opportunities in Schwechat revisited

摘要

The fall of the Berlin wall and the EU enlargement raised the stakes for the fringe of the EU. Opportunities were plentiful to reconnect historic links and create new synergies. The Vienna city region was particularly well placed to expand its regional economy through joint ventures with its immediate neighbours, thereby strengthening its centrality as a supra-regional multimodal interchange node. Expanding the future role of Vienna International Airport was just one of the attractive options, while preventing the region from becoming a low value-added logistics destination. Was it a promising vision or just an unrealistic fantasy? The paper revisits Schwechat's development strategies. It inquires what happened to the initial opportunities of reconnecting its historic eastern ties through the Centrope initiative, the EU transportation network proposals, and the role of Schwechat in Vienna's momentum of urban change. It reconsiders the proposals of the Isocarp Urban Task Force in the light of the global economic crisis and explores Schwechat's chances to become an integral part of a liveable, healthy and prosperous city region.