As reported, nothing came of a full-fledged merger of parishes, but collaboration and cooperation is still practiced. Two years after the start of the cross-community spatial development process in the Gusental region, the five participating municipalities of Alberndorf, Altenberg, Engerwitzdorf, Gallneukirchen and Katsdorf have their joint spatial development strategy in their hands. The presentation to community representatives now marked the starting signal for the implementation of the jointly formulated key objectives for the spatial development of the region. The mayors involved have signed a joint “spatial planning manifesto” for this purpose.
Behind this manifesto is the desire not to leave the spatial development and design of the region to external influences such as the increasing pressure from the central area with regard to space requirements for living space, businesses, transport development and recreational infrastructure, but to take it into our own hands and determine the direction
This goal prompted the five municipalities to work out a joint strategy for the spatial development of the region. In it, they agreed on principles, key objectives and implementation measures on the topics of landscape and climate, mobility, settlement development and economic development, which are aimed at the time horizon up to 2040. “Our declared goal is to jointly create the spatial conditions for a successful, sustainable and fair future in the Gusental region,” says a joint statement by the mayors involved. The five Gusental communities are the first in the Mühlviertel to complete such a process.
What the Gusental region has in common is its close ties with the provincial capital Linz. A large proportion of the employees from the five municipalities commute to work there by car. All municipalities have recorded a relatively high influx in recent years. The house in the country, the work in the city – this model is lived by many residents of the region.
Impulses in the “Kepler Valley”
For the spatial development of the region, all this means forward-looking spatial planning that avoids urban sprawl, makes settlement development as independent as possible of one’s own car and implements space-saving housing models. Important focal points in the implementation must also be the expansion of local public transport and the economic strengthening of the region. In addition, the proximity to the planned digital university in Linz could prove to be an advantage. The term “Kepler Valley” has already been coined for this in recent weeks. (fur)
Source: Nachrichten
