25 April 2013

Vienna in 2050

In 2050, the Viennese will likely live longer and work longer, according to new findings from the Austrian Future.Monitor project, a population-based effort to project the future development of Austria and Vienna.

© Juliane Jacobs | Dreamstime.com

© Juliane Jacobs | Dreamstime.com

The study, presented by IIASA’s Wolfgang Lutz and Elke Loichinger on 24 April, examined potential scenarios for Vienna’s development, exploring the outcomes of different policies for education, working, migration, and health, and compared the results to projected developments in Austria. The study showed that improved education and a higher retirement age could help the social security system to cope with demographic change. As more educated people tend to live longer, healthier lives, they would be more likely to be able and willing to work longer.

Intelligent migration policies will also be vital for improving Austria’s global competitiveness. Encouraging immigration of skilled workers, and aggressively pursuing education for those already in the country, are crucial steps in order to prepare society for the foreseen changes in its age structure, the study showed. 

Future.monitor, a cooperation between the Austrian Federation of Industry (IV), the Austrian Red Cross, and the University of Economics and Business (WU), uses methods developed at IIASA to predict Austria’s future social and economic outlook. The first results from the project, projections for Austria as a whole, were initially released in 2010 and updated now, along with the addition of separate projections for Vienna. The past as well as the new projections rely on a population-based approach, which means that they focus on people as the basis for predictions, rather than on economic indicators. These projections provide information about not just the number of people, but also education levels, employment, and migration.

 

More information is available at www.futuremonitor.at (In German).



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Last edited: 25 April 2013

CONTACT DETAILS

Wolfgang Lutz

Interim Deputy Director General for Science Directorate - DDG for Science Department

Principal Research Scholar and Senior Program Advisor Population and Just Societies Program

Principal Research Scholar and Senior Program Advisor Social Cohesion, Health, and Wellbeing Research Group - Population and Just Societies Program

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313