Salzburg Europe Summit: Corona: From rural exodus to urban exodus
The 17th Europe Summit is currently taking place in Salzburg. Participants from 25 countries will discuss Europe’s comeback after the crisis.
SALZBURG. Debates from politics and business discussed the topic of “Corona: From rural exodus to urban exodus” at the first dialogue on Tuesday.
>> HERE < you come to the livestream for this event.
“People want out”
“For many years, rural exodus and the associated problems in metropolises and cities are dying of public discussion. Since the Corona crisis, there has been a trend reversal that was noticeable even before the pandemic: regions,” says Josef Schöchl, Chairman of the Europe Committee of the Salzburg state parliament and member of the IRE board of directors at the opening of the discussion.
Space is a challenge
“With the pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions and the advantages of city life in Fielden disappeared. In the cities there was nothing going on outside and inside, in the expensive apartments, it was getting tight,” said Schöchl. He points out the resulting challenges:
- The real estate search is changing massively.
- The interest in apartments, houses and land outside the cities increased by leaps and bounds.
- The trend showed the need to catch up in rural regions: fast internet, good digital infrastructure, fast public transport connections, adequate childcare, cultural offerings, medical care, spatial planning measures to get the rampant land consumption under control.
Sustainable trend towards “Landlust”
The panel asks itself the following questions: Will this trend fade again postcovid? Is the new “lust for land” one that encompasses all rural regions or, above all, a trend towards suburbanization, the escape in the suburbs of the metropolises? Do people want to move into the countryside, but at the same time do not want to forego the advantages of urban life? Will the rural exodus persist as a threatening scenario for certain regions in spite of everything?
Discuss these questions:
- Alexander Biach, Deputy Director of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, local lawyer for the City of Vienna (Austria)
- Matthias Günther, graduate economist, head of the Eduard Pestel Institute in Hanover (Germany)
- Doris Kleilein, architect, author “The city after Corona” (Germany)
- Małgorzata Maria Mańka-Szulik, Mayor of the City of Zabrze (Poland)
- Dragana Tomić Pilipović, founder of the Rural Hub in Vrmdža (Serbia)
- Mario Winkler, Head of Communication, Hail Insurance (Austria)
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