A Hub of Daily Activity: The solarCity as a Suburban Center

Abstract

The qualities of the solarCity unfold with their back to the city center. All the more so since the Province of Upper Austria, long ago, departed from the idea that a center can only be the core of a city, going on to adopt the “central area” concept. In short, this “central area” encompasses the zone formed by the cities of Enns, Steyr, Linz, and Wels and marked by the main thoroughfare of the West Highway. At the heart of the central area are Linz’s manufacturing plants as well as the villages along the lower Krems, and suburban neighborhood centers like the solarCity. Visitors from out of town frequently bemoan the 40-minute travel time on the No. 1 tram from Linz’s Main Square, overlooking the fact that suburban and rural lifestyles in Austria have long been following a different mental map. The focus is no longer on city centers, but instead on easily accessible (by automobile) business and residential infrastructures.