Club Melange Walk: WU Economics University Campus

Education is highly valued in Austria, with many graduates desperate to be referred to by their full academic title. 10% of the population of our city are university students, which is an enormous number. This makes Vienna young, smart and diverse. On this alternative tour, we visit the new Business & Economics University campus in Prater. This was, on completion, the largest new campus university in Europe for 30 years. It is a bold statement of the ambition and confidence of this historic institution, which previously occupied an ugly, lifeless block in Spittelau, and before that was in the astonishing Hochschule für Welthandel, in Währinger Park.

The university has high visibility in this country, because of researchers like Judith Kohlenberger on the value of migration, Andreas Novy on new economic sociology, and Ruth Simsa on best-practice for NGOs. There are also some very dull subjects to be studied here, but at least the architecture is colourful and inspiring.

It is important to remember that the source of Reagan and Thatcher's radical rethinking of small government was born here, with the Austrian School of economist like Hajek. Vienna has been liberal in every sense.

And Eugene has sentimental connections here, since his son Josef went to the kindergarten on campus. And he teaches sometimes on both social innovation and new visions for non-profit groups.

The Wirtschaftsuniversität has has an impact on the local economy, bringing the Sigmund Freud university with it, lots of fancy student housing, and some good new restaurants for the local population as well as academics, students and support staff. The whole thing is built along one long catwalk, meaning everybody meets each other all the time. And it looks spectacular, due to architecture from Madrid, Tokyo, Hamburg, and of course Zaha Hadid, London.

Our Neighbourhood Walks with Club Melange, are designed to introduce the international community to the right place for them to choose to live, but work just as well for curious locals, eager to learn more about their home town. Please also listen to our podcast collaborations, available through the recom.at website, or wherever you get your audio downloads.