Reimagining Rural Downtowns – Rohrbach-Berg provides a framework for architecture and urban planning students to work together in teams to develop designs and concepts for public spaces, as well as transformation strategies for rural town centers.

The project takes a practical approach to the planning challenges facing the municipality of Rohrbach-Berg in Upper Austria.

In doing so, sustainable concepts and designs are developed to transform an existing school complex, taking into account technological and demographic dynamics (in-migration, vacancy rates, the mobility transition) to improve the quality of life in rural communities. The interplay of numerous environmental factors—including the municipality’s development trajectory, regional versus local perspectives on problems, a lack of interdisciplinary exchange, and differing land-use demands—creates complex challenges for the municipality. The goal is to raise awareness of cross-thematic and cross-scale design and planning approaches.

Working in mixed teams, the students developed designs for the former elementary school in Rohrbach-Berg (Upper Austria) and its urban integration. Additionally, the project is testing the extent to which AI-supported visualization methods are suitable for communicating urban planning concepts.

The project is a collaboration between the research units of Local Planning, Transportation System Planning and simlab, opens an external URL in a new window.