Heumarkt-Zoff: Court session on June 30th brings new excitement!

Heumarkt-Zoff: Court session on June 30th brings new excitement!

In a current exchange of blows over the controversial high-rise project on Heumarkt in Vienna, the Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) has scheduled a new hearing for June 30th. The dispute has taken a new turn as the expert and professor Christa Reicher has revised her originally critical report on environmental impact. These changes are reportedly made at the request of officials, raising additional questions.

Reicher originally stated in her report that the impact of the project on the UNESCO World Heritage site could be classified as “not significant”. However, this assessment was assessed differently in February 2023, which now has to be explained in court. In the upcoming hearing, in addition to Reicher, UNESCO expert Michael Kloos and World Heritage coordinator Ruth Pröckl will also testify to shed light on the matter.

The impact on the UNESCO world heritage

The dispute over the skyscraper has serious consequences for Vienna: the city figure is on the UNESCO Red List, which underlines the seriousness of the situation. In addition, under pressure from the ÖVP, the City Audit Office will examine possible interventions in the preparation of the report. If the court overturns the previous decisions, the case could even reach the Constitutional Court or the European Court of Justice.

Another aspect is the international dimension of Christa Reicher's work. She heads the UNESCO Chair for Cultural Heritage and Urban Development at RWTH Aachen University, where she addresses current challenges in urban development, such as climate change and resource management. Prof. Dr. Maria Böhmer, President of the German Commission for UNESCO, emphasizes the importance of the chair, which focuses on sustainable and inclusive perspectives for urban spaces.

The relevance of cultural heritage

The UNESCO Chair, which Reicher leads, aims to pool expertise and promote intercultural dialogue, particularly with countries in the Global South. This shows how important cultural heritage is not only for identity-forming processes, but also for the future viability of cities. This issue is further illustrated by the hay market dispute and the resulting unstable situation in Vienna.

In her work, Prof. Christa Reicher has always emphasized how CULTURE HERITAGE contributes to stable and resilient urban development. It remains to be hoped that the upcoming court case will provide new impetus not only in the city of Vienna, but also in the international discussion about the protection of World Heritage sites.