Administrative Court of Justice confirms EIA requirement for Heumarkt project – UNESCO convenes in Busan

The construction project, which covers the Hotel Intercontinental/Ice Skating Club/Concert Hall site, has for years been one of the central points of contention in the tension between urban development and World Heritage protection. Even after multiple modifications, the high-rise towers – which remain a thorn in the side of UNESCO experts despite repeated changes – have not been taken off the table. The originally planned height of 73 meters has now been reduced to just under 50 meters.

The Project at Heumarkt

The environmental organization Alliance For Nature, which has been fighting the project for years both in court and in public, considers itself vindicated by the VwGH decision. Its lawyer, Piotr Pyka, stated that attempts to persuade the UNESCO Commission in Busan to remove Vienna from the Red List were „vollkommen nutzlos“ following the court ruling.

In parallel, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has been meeting since Sunday in Busan, South Korea, with 21 member states. Vienna's historic center has been on the List of World Heritage in Danger since 2017. Removing it from this Red List would require a two-thirds majority of the 21 member states. Most recently, the ICOMOS advisory body had recommended in its draft decision that Vienna remain on the Red List, as the project had not changed compared to the previous year.

UNESCO Session in Busan

As several media outlets report, both the Austrian federal government and the City of Vienna attempted in the run-up to the Busan decision to influence opinion by various means – ranging from an image film by the investor Wertinvest to diplomatic lobbying. The FPÖ and the environmental organization Virus criticized these lobbying activities. Virus had already asserted the EIA requirement in court.

The decision in Busan comes in an already delicate context: Should Vienna actually be removed from the World Heritage List, this would be an unprecedented event for a Western capital. The combination of the VwGH ruling and the ICOMOS recommendation now places the diplomatic efforts of Vienna in an even more difficult starting position.

Lobbying and Criticism

Legally, the situation has become clearer with the VwGH ruling. The Heumarkt project at the Hotel Intercontinental/Ice Skating Club/Concert Hall site must now undergo an Environmental Impact Assessment. This also strengthens the line of argument of the project opponents, according to which the project – regardless of the UNESCO question – is already problematic under EIA law.

In Busan, the debate over Vienna's historic city center will nevertheless continue. The Commission is examining whether the city should remain on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of the Heumarkt high-rises. Backed by the VwGH decision, World Heritage advocates such as Alliance For Nature see their position as reinforced – and, in Pyka's words, hopes for the removal of Vienna from the Red List are practically buried.