Savings measures in Meidling: What will happen to our projects?

Savings measures in Meidling: What will happen to our projects?

In the current discussion about the future of the 12th district of Meidling, a major reform is hanging over the heads of citizens: The city of Vienna has frozen the district budgets for 2026 and 2027, which means for Meidling that the budget of around 12 million euros will remain unchanged in the next few years. City Councilor for Finance Barbara Novak (SPÖ) has already presented this drastic measure to the districts. In addition to not increasing the budget, this measure affects all districts and is expected to bring total savings of around 17 million euros for the city of Munich. Nevertheless, the hope remains that ongoing projects from the 2024 and 2025 district budgets can be pushed forward.

Fortunately, there are positive things to report: Meidling still has around 2.8 million euros in reserves that can be used for future projects. School renovations are not directly affected by the austerity measures, as many schools in the district have already been extensively renovated. When it comes to road renovations, we are currently examining which measures can still be implemented. However, the redesign of Miep-Gies Park is on the list of projects to be implemented and should be carried out as planned. The “MeidLine” pedestrian bridge is also a federal project and remains unaffected by the budget cuts, as meinbezirk.at reports.

Projects for a better quality of life

District head Ing. Wilfried Zankl is also committed to improving the quality of life in the district and is presenting twelve promising projects that are to be implemented in 2025 from the Meidlinger district budget. These projects were developed with a strong focus on citizen participation and aim to make the district more livable. The highlight projects include the redesign of Christine Busta Park and the unsealing and greening of Vio Plaza.

• 1. Christine-Busta-Park: Neugestaltung mit Bürgerbeteiligung.
• 2. Vio Plaza: Entsiegelung und Begrünung, neue Bäume und Staudenbeete.
• 3. Schule Rosasgasse: Terrasse erhält eine Pergola für ganzjährige Freizeitnutzung im Freien.
• 4. Mittelschule Schöpfwerk: Neuer moderner Physiksaal, Komplettsanierung abgeschlossen.
• 5. Parkanlage An den Eisteichen: Sanierung der Ballspielkäfige für mehr Sicherheit und Attraktivität.
• 6. Verkehrssicherheit: Verbesserung mehrerer Kreuzungen zur Sicherheit aller Fußgänger*innen.
• 7. Öffentliche WC-Anlagen: Begrünung der Fassaden im Wilhelmsdorfer Park und auf der Meidlinger Hauptstraße.
• 8. Sport-Mittelschule Hermann-Broch-Gasse: Fertigstellung des renovierten Schulinnenhofs mit neuen Sitzplätzen und Sportangeboten.
• 9. Kulturbudget: Erhöhung des Budgets zur Durchführung kultureller Veranstaltungen wie dem „Calle Libre Festival“.
• 10. Meidlinger Demokratie-Wochen: Veranstaltungen zur Förderung der Demokratie im ganzen Bezirk.
• 11. Vierthalerpark: Abschluss der Umgestaltung mit neuen Freizeitmöglichkeiten.
• 12. Baumpflanzungen: Es werden insgesamt 24 neue Bäume in der Sagedergasse und Bonygasse gepflanzt.

In addition, the city invests considerable resources in modern schools, parks and leisure activities to further improve the living environment. With 10 million euros for school renovations alone, the new vision of a livable neighborhood in the district can only be imagined. This goes hand in hand with a call for citizen participation, in which district leader Zankl actively collected ideas to beautify the neighborhood. The initiative to submit proposals shows that real change is underway in Meidling. You can find out more about this at wien.gv.at and esgehtum.wien.

Overall, it remains to be seen how the city of Vienna will respond to the challenges of the coming years. The relaxed coexistence in the district remains a central pillar for the people of Meidling, who can look forward to a colorful future.