Challenges to the quality of life for residents of small towns and cities, as well as issues of socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable rural development, have increasingly become a topic for politics, planning, and research. The complexity of the issue demands that connections between small and medium-sized towns and their surroundings, between rural areas, cities, and metropolises are understood and that the strengths of this network for the promotion of rural development are recognized and utilized. Within the region of Upper Styria East there are great differences in the size and location of the municipalities as well as in the accessibility and availability of essential public services. Accordingly, demographic dynamics and the demand for housing and commercial space differ greatly in this region. This diversity contrasts with a low variance in housing supply.

On the one hand, the aim of the project “More Than Living 4.0” was to understand the pilot communities in their context and to identify the future potential and challenges for development on the basis of qualitative interviews and precise spatial analyses. On the other hand, questions regarding housing and the inner development of the communities, accessibility to facilities and services as well as mobility had to be considered simultaneously, and answered specifically for each pilot community in order to increase the quality of life in eastern Upper Styria and its potential. The results of the research project were presented in a traveling exhibition from February 3 to March 1, 2020.

Project duration:
January 2019 to February 2020

Funding:
The Regional Development Agency Upper Styria East

Project team:
Institute of Urbanism: Eva Schwab (project leader), Sabine Bauer, Cornelia Pregartbauer, Mario Stefan, Aglaée Degros

Project partners:
Kampus Raumplanungs- und Stadtentwicklungs GmbH