Ludwig expects agreement on funding for out-of-state patients

Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig says an agreement on how to fund patients from other Austrian provinces treated in the city is “very realistic”, ORF reported. In an interview on the ORF programme “Wien heute”, he also announced a registration requirement for short-term rentals.

About 84,000 out-of-state patients were treated in Vienna last year, generating adjusted costs of around 610 million euros for the city, Ludwig said. He expects the figure to rise to about 700 million euros this year.

Vienna needs a fair distribution of these costs, he said, with other provinces contributing to the financing.

City reviews cultural funding

Ludwig also discussed the funding of Vienna’s cultural sector. He recently rejected the idea of a “culture euro” but said new ways of securing cultural funding should be considered. He gave no specific proposals and said all possible savings would be examined in the current difficult financial situation.

Measures that would directly affect residents’ incomes are not currently being considered, Ludwig said.

More air conditioning and district cooling

Heatwaves last summer exposed weaknesses in Vienna’s protection against extreme heat. Ludwig pointed to measures already in place, including the city’s climate protection programme, which has operated since 1999.

Further improvements would become noticeable in the coming years and across all areas, he said. Air conditioning can now also be installed in municipal housing. Vienna is additionally expanding its district cooling network. The General Hospital of the City of Vienna is already connected, and hospitals and care facilities will primarily be added step by step, Ludwig said.

Registration required for short-term rentals

From 1 January next year, apartments offered through platforms such as Airbnb will have to be registered in advance. The city expects the measure to improve monitoring of the 90-day limit for tourist short-term rentals.

Vienna also wants to prevent homes from being redesignated as accommodation facilities. At least 80 percent of the apartments should continue to be used as housing rather than for short-term rentals, Ludwig said.

Ludwig rejects allegations of deals with business

Asked about the close relationship between the city and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, including his relationship with former chamber president Walter Ruck, Ludwig pointed to Vienna’s economic performance. He said Vienna had been the only Austrian province to record economic growth over the past three years.

Nothing had been arranged behind closed doors, Ludwig said. However, it made sense to help companies establish themselves in Vienna and to accelerate that process. He described the city’s business agency, in which the chamber is strongly involved, as an important instrument.

Regarding comments attributed to Donaustadt district head Ernst Nevrivy of the SPÖ that Vienna did not need 220,000 municipal apartments, Ludwig said Nevrivy had apologised and was not responsible for that issue.

Ludwig said he was also dissatisfied with the polling results of Austria’s federal SPÖ. He said governing parties across Europe were under strong pressure and that the party should focus less on personnel issues and more on its core social-democratic priorities.

Asked whether SPÖ leader Andreas Babler represented those values strongly enough for voters, Ludwig replied that more could always be done, but that this applied to the entire Social Democratic team.