Circular Districts: Transformation of districts into a climate-neutral circular economy

• Funding: WISS Förderung 2021 | Land Salzburg
• Lead Partner Organisation:  Salzburg University of Applied Sciences
• Project Lead: FH-Prof. DI (FH) Dr. Stefan Netsch, M.Eng. (Department Green Engineering and Circular Design)
• Team at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences Salzburg: FH-Prof. DI (FH) DI Dr. Georg Brunauer (Department Green Engineering and Circular Design), Philip Lechner, B.A. (Department Business and Tourism), Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christine Vallaster (University Salzburg)
• Project Partner: 
  PEC Pongauer Energie Center GmbH
  Salzburg AG
• Project Duration: February 2023 - February 2024

Cities and villages play an important role in the societal transformation towards resource conservation and climate neutrality. By structuring them into individual neighborhoods, the interdependencies of the individual actors (e.g. local politics and administration, energy providers, urban planning, local economy and population) and infrastructure systems become particularly effective. However, when it comes to implementation, planning ambitions are not always coherent due to the different interests of stakeholders. The transition to an energy self-sufficient circular economy therefore requires the development of integrated overall planning at the neighborhood level. Therefore, neighborhood stakeholders are involved in the transformation of local infrastructure systems, so their interests are taken into account.

In cooperation with Salzburg AG and PEC, actors with different infrastructure systems from three spatially different neighborhoods in the province of Salzburg are networked.

Based on this, these infrastructure systems are adapted in terms of planning and a governance process is developed that is tailored to the respective spatial situation. The participatory and integrative character of this process, which is supported by workshops and information units, helps to increase social acceptance for a change toward sustainable coexistence.

This project therefore builds competencies in the province of Salzburg in the field of urban development with a focus on climate-neutral circular economy, contributing to the thematic area of "Green Transition".

The project is carried out in cooperative collaboration between the study programs Smart Cities (SMC) and Business Administration (BWI) of the FH Salzburg, as well as the cooperation partners PEC and Salzburg AG.

Three neighborhoods are selected that differ in their spatial situation (size and associated infrastructure). By dividing them into three spatially different situations, the differences can be presented in the context of societal change toward climate neutrality and resource conservation (e.g., inner development, redensification, and spatial indicators for evaluating site quality, especially with regard to energy production, storage, and consumption). The three selected sites exemplify the current dynamic development of settlement structures, which are characterized by a change in housing types and mobility types.