Measures against climate change: unsealing of surfaces and greening need to be stepped up

The climate crisis has a particularly strong effect on Austria: temperatures are increasing at twice the global average rate. Summer months are also becoming hotter and hotter. Heat waves are especially harmful to children, the sick and the elderly, and their impacts are particularly strong in cities. The problem: heavily built-up and sealed surfaces heat up more than the surrounding areas on hot summer days and store this heat. This leads to the formation of heat islands. The ACA audited the “Climate Change Adaptation Action – Wels and Wiener Neustadt” („Maßnahmen zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel – Wels und Wiener Neustadt“).  In its report published today, it noted that large areas in the audited cities present a significant risk of turning into heat islands – there is considerable need for action. These effects can be mitigated by taking comprehensive greening measures and adapting spatial planning as well as development. This includes, for example, the unsealing of surfaces. In addition, the ACA stresses the importance of preventive flood protection measures in view of the flood events of September 2024, among other things. The audited period spanned the years from 2018 through 2022.

In Austria, around 70 per cent of the population live in or around cities. Wiener Neustadt is more severely affected by the impacts of the climate crisis than Wels, as regards very hot days, for example, and it is occasionally one of the hottest spots in Austria.

Surfaces increasingly sealed

A large number of sealed surfaces negatively impacts the urban climate and increases the risk of flooding. Therefore, auditors recommended accelerating the unsealing of public and private surfaces. The Government Programme 2020–2024 envisaged reducing additional land consumption in Austria to a maximum of 2.5 hectares per day by 2030. In 2020, this surface area – 2.5 hectares per day – was consumed in Lower Austria alone, with Upper Austria, where 2.2 hectares per day were used, almost consuming the same amount. In recent years, the per-capita rate of land consumed and sealed has also sharply risen in Wels and Wiener Neustadt, as shown by analyses carried out by the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt).

Climate action should be considered in construction projects

The city of Wels is planning to partly unseal and expand its “Volksgarten” public park from 2025, which will cost around EUR 15 million. The plan aims at demolishing old exhibition venues close to the city centre and replacing them with a smaller, more modern venue; in addition, adjacent parking areas are to be unsealed and become a park covering around ten hectares together with the area of the “Volksgarten”. According to the ACA, this project could serve as a model for other cities.

By contrast, the ACA views the “Maximilium am Stadtpark” construction project (Maximilium at the city park) in Wiener Neustadt with a critical eye in terms of climate change adaptation, as the planned development – the plan is to build apartments, office spaces, food venues and an education campus – could further increase the already high risk of heat islands in the inner city. As regards the B17 Wiener Neustadt eastern bypass project, the ACA also notes that it is in conflict with climate and environmental goals as well as food security since soil will be sealed and agricultural land lost in the process. Construction of the “Ringschluss” (ring closure) has already started.

Effects of heat islands should be mitigated by adapting spatial planning

The effects of overheating and heat islands on cities can be mitigated by adapting spatial planning and development. The more recent development plans for Wels and the development plan for Wiener Neustadt contained provisions for greening measures in new buildings and conversions, some of them mandatory. However, these do not suffice for neighbourhoods with a high risk of heat islands. In order to improve the microclimate, only new buildings and conversions with a high proportion of green spaces and intensive greening should be built in these neighbourhoods.

Preventive flood protection measures should be continued

Due to the climate crisis, the frequency and intensity of heavy rainfall events will increase. In view of the flood events of September 2024, the ACA stresses the importance of preventive protection measures. Wels planned two flood protection projects, which should be continued.

Vulnerable groups should be protected and informed

Highly vulnerable people – children, sick and elderly people – as well as their social circle must be targeted with information on the risks of extreme heat stress. At the time of the ACA’s audit, the cities of Wels and Wiener Neustadt took only few specific precautionary measures in order to protect these groups of people from extreme heat. One example for measures already taken is the installation of public drinking fountains. The ACA recommends that targeted precautionary measures be taken on the basis of a vulnerability analysis, i.e. the development of spheres of action for the protection of vulnerable groups.

Great financial challenges

In the audited period, the cities of Wels and Wiener Neustadt took many individual measures to adapt to climate change. However, given the worsening climate crisis and the widespread risk of heat islands, the ACA believes that there is still much to be done in order to sustainably ensure the population’s quality of life in the face of changed climatic conditions.

The ACA recommends that the cities of Wels and Wiener Neustadt assess the medium- and long-term financing requirements of climate change adaptation measures and make financial provisions for them, as these are expensive and will pose big financial challenges to cities and municipalities in the upcoming years. According to a study from 2020, nationwide expenditure on adaptation to climate change will double to EUR 2 billion per year until 2050, assuming medium warming.