Image: OÖN
“We are not the villain,” said trade association managing director Rainer Will at a press conference on Wednesday. Will referred to a study by Lage+Markt commissioned by the association, according to which retail takes up 0.6 percent of Austria’s total area. The leaders in this ranking are residential construction with 45.40 percent, traffic areas with 35.96 percent and business areas (excluding retail) with 10.96 percent.
On average, 41 square kilometers of land are used in Austria every year, which corresponds to land consumption of around eleven hectares per day. Around half of this area is also sealed, i.e. covered with a layer that is impermeable to water and air.
Study author Hannes Lindner from Lage+Markt pointed out that Austria naturally has a high retail density, especially in the food retail sector. However, new markets would mostly be created on areas that have already been sealed, and roof areas would also be increasingly greened or used for photovoltaic systems.
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