LEIWAND - Local decisions for socio-ecological infrastructure change

Starting point / motivation

Austria aims to become climate-neutral by 2040. However, emissions in the transport sector have increased by 74.4% since 1990, despite technological advancements. Additionally, approximately 11.3 hectares of land are used annually for construction, transport, and operational areas.

A social-ecological transformation of the mobility system is urgently needed but is hindered by its unsustainable structure. This impedes the implementation of sustainable mobility solutions and, in the long term, sustainable land use. Many transformation projects fail because decisions in transport and spatial planning are often influenced by old patterns and power structures.

Content and goals

The "LEIWAND" project aims to uncover the interests that influence decisions regarding mobility and land use in cities. These interests will be made visible, and solutions will be developed. The project focuses on the political economy of decisions that influence the transition to sustainable mobility.

Key topics include electoral processes, interest groups, externalization of decision consequences, delays, and incentive structures. The goal is to better understand how these processes function and how they can be changed to become more sustainable. A toolbox will be developed to help groups promote the social-ecological transformation of the mobility system.

This toolbox will contain suggestions on how political decisions can be made more socially and ecologically sustainable in the future. The project will also contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in the areas of gender equality and sustainability.

Methods

The project combines literature review, expert interviews, and case studies. Relevant national and international literature on the political economy of mobility and spatial planning will be reviewed first. Expert interviews will be conducted with political and administrative actors in two case studies to analyze decision-making processes and arguments.

These case studies focus on controversial road construction projects in different regions of Austria. The interviews will be analyzed to reveal the actors, processes, and underlying interests.

Additionally, workshops with experts will be organized to discuss the findings from the literature and interviews, improve the quality of the interviews, and validate the results. Based on these findings, the toolbox will be developed, offering suggestions for new, more sustainable decision-making processes.

Expected results

The project will develop a methodological framework for identifying the interests and influencing factors behind decisions related to mobility and land use. Based on this framework, a practical toolbox will be created to support the social-ecological transformation of the mobility system.

Concrete recommendations will be made for political processes that enable more sustainable and future-oriented decisions. The toolbox, along with the insights gained, will be applied at the national level to support Austria's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2040.

The results will be disseminated through scientific publications, conferences, and media outreach and will contribute to the development of a dissertation on the social-ecological transformation of the mobility system.

Project management

TU Wien, Institute of Transportation, Research Unit of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering

Project or cooperation partners

• TU Wien, Institute of Spatial Planning, Department of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy
• Competence Centre for Infrastructure Economics, Public Services and Social Provisioning

Lisa Gallian
Karlsplatz 13/230-1
A-1040 Vienna
Tel.: +43 (1) 58801 231 21
E-mail: lisa.gallian@tuwien.ac.at
Web: www.tuwien.at/en/cee/transport/planning