Tenants at a city-administered housing estate have convinced officials to reconsider their strict lawn-mowing procedures to support the flora and fauna of Vienna.
Thanks to the campaigning of the ‘Meadow Doctor’ group, none of the lawns at the Kongresssiedlung estate in the Austrian city’s Hietzing district are being cut back to fewer than 10 centimetres (3.9 inches).
Several studies confirm that insects such as solitary bees benefit enormously from wildflower meadows.
‘Meadow Doctor’ member Helmut Chrobak revealed that the meadows even turned brown before council decision-makers eventually green-lighted his group’s plea three years ago.
The retired environmental expert criticised: “In previous years, the lawns had been cut rigorously. This caused damage and dehydration.”
Helmut also underlined the cooling effect wildflower meadows were having.
Resident Brigitte Göbel is delighted. She told broadcaster ORF: “The flowers have been allowed to grow. There weren’t cut immediately.”
Brigitte added that she was also appreciating the reduced noise and odour nuisance now that the city’s gardeners were operating their lawnmowers less often at the Kongresssiedlung estate.
A spokesman for the city council said the gardening administration had adapted its policies due to the engagement of the ‘Meadow Doctor’ initiative as lawns at all social housing estates (Gemeindebauten) are now allowed to grow to seven to 10 centimetres (2.8 to 3.9 inches).
The city government official argued: “Every reasonable idea is worth being considered. Sometimes simple solutions are best.”
Vienna, which has 1.98 million inhabitants, features 126 square kilometres (49 square miles) of grassy areas. This is twice the size of Salzburg, the fourth-largest city in Austria.
EcoWatch, an environmental news platform, praises Vienna for its various sustainable development initiatives such as the city-owned rental bike system.
Three years ago, the Canadian-American consulting firm Resonance named Vienna the greenest city in the world. The capital of Austria topped the ranking ahead of the German cities of Munich and Berlin, Madrid in Spain and the Brazilian megacity of Sao Paolo.
The Resonance jury lauded Vienna’s “bounty of fresh ideas about mobility and public parks.”
It added: “But the commitment comes from a history of methodical city planning that has given the world everything from the English garden-inspired City Park to an actual national park just outside of town (Nationalpark Donau-Auen).”
The experts at Resonance took aspects such as air pollution, the percentage of public green spaces and public transport passenger numbers into account.
