Univ.-Prof. i.R. Dipl.-Ing. Sibylla ZECH
Former Head of Research Unit

regional planning and regional development, studies and planning for regional cooperation, process-oriented spatial planning, cooperative planning and participation processes, process design and moderation, planning and building culture, integrated development planning, internal development, climate-sensitive spatial planning

Sibylla Zech grew up in Nenzing (Vorarlberg, Austria) and studied spatial planning at the Vienna University of Technology. In her diploma thesis in 1985, she developed IT-supported methods as a contribution to environmental impact assessment and used them specifically in route comparisons for road projects. In addition to her work as a university assistant at the Institute for Landscape Planning, she worked in various planning and architectural offices - in development planning, village renewal and open space design.

In 1991, she founded the stadtland office together with Alfred Eichberger, passed the civil engineering examination and ran the office in Vienna and Vorarlberg as an engineering consultant for spatial planning and as a technical office for spatial and landscape planning. Initially, the focus of her work was on environmental planning and ecologically oriented spatial planning (environmental studies for railroad expansion, landscape and green space concepts). The office's field of activity was soon expanded to include process-oriented communicative planning within the framework of cooperative participation processes (Vienna-Lower Austria Urban-Rural Management, Vision Rheintal, Austrian Spatial Development Concept, urban development dialog processes).

Sibylla Zech worked a lot locally and on the road. Her work abroad has taken her to Luxembourg (studies on housing policy), Switzerland (land-use planning, citizen participation) and post-communist countries in Eastern Europe. Consulting and training programs for urban and transport planning were associated with repeated stays, especially in Albania.

In 2008, Sibylla Zech accepted a chair as professor for regional planning and regional development at the Vienna University of Technology. From 2008 to 2025, she tought and conducted practical research with interdisciplinary teams at the Institute of Spatial Planning, with a special focus on rural areas. For example, she was the initiator of the Center for Rural Areas established at the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning in 2021 and promoter of the Drosendorf Rural University (Waldviertel, Austria).

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