BEYOND THE BORDERS. Inclusive strategies for social innovation in the case of Macondo in Vienna.

The migratory flows that characterised Europe between the 1950s and the 1990s made Austria a destination or transit country for refugees seeking political asylum or humanitarian reception. The district of Simmering, on the outskirts of the city of Vienna, is a suitable place to respond to the growing housing’s need by converting abandoned barracks in the area into dwellings for refugees. Perceived as a satellite reality of the city due to the decentralisation of the territory, it is necessary to identify urban planning strategies that allow the development of projects that meet the needs of the inhabitants, involving them with a participatory approach in the definition of objectives, contributing to the creation of a multicultural community through the design of urban spaces that avoid any form of spatial or social segregation. The objective of the study will be the realisation of a project on the area popularly known as "Macondo", a name that recalls the fictional city in the book "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the neighbourhood in Vienna where refugees were housed in disused barracks, with the intention of collaborating in the construction of a sense of community among the area's inhabitants and that the area may become a catalyst for attention both from the public authorities and by attracting potential new users to the area. An attempt will be made to identify which urban planning strategy is most suitable for the case study, through the use of the principles of social innovation, sustainability and collaborative design proposed in the context of smart cities. This approach will make it possible to formulate flexible and differentiated planning solutions based on the needs and requirements of the inhabitants, but always anchored in the sociological theories of equity, inclusion and social innovation, in order to build an arrangement with which the inhabitants can identify. The local government has provided a number of sustainable design support tools for the city of Vienna, such as the 'Urban Development Plan STEP 2025' and the 'Smart City Wien - Framework Strategy 2019-2050', which provide guidance to planners to help them in high quality urban design that consolidates the role of the Austrian capital both in the regional context and in the international arena. The two strategic plans highlight which elements should be strengthened with new urban regeneration projects, such as the theme of living, green and public spaces, sustainable infrastructure management and the economy, based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations 2030 Agenda. In order to elaborate the strategy, projects that have been implemented or are under construction aimed at making Vienna a Smart City are explored, since they show potentially replicable solutions to solve problems related to public space design, the topic of sustainable mobility and social inclusion practices in peripheral neighbourhoods. Given Vienna's international role and especially its participation in network projects with other European cities, strategies adopted by other smart cities will be investigate as well as their research addressed at solving similar problems, with a view to promoting shared urban development based on knowledge sharing.