Experiencing Japan - Hospitality: Japanese Students spend a week in Vienna

In October 2024, the Research Unit for Regional Planning and Regional Development welcomed a group of students from the Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, Japan, to Vienna as part of the “Experiencing Japan” course. The students learned about urban development policy in Vienna with a focus on the Schmelz-Westbahnhof-Äußere Mariahilfer Straße area. In the upcoming summer semester, there will be an excursion to Japan for students of the Technical University of Vienna as the second part of the course.

Several people stand in a circle in a square and laugh.

© Hartmut Dumke

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Field Trip Vienna

Several people stand on a bridge.

© Hartmut Dumke

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Field Trip Vienna

Several people stand in a circle in one place. One person speaks.

© Sibylla Zech

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Field Trip Vienna

Several people are sitting on chairs. Two people are standing in the background giving a presentation.

© Hartmut Dumke

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Workshop Vienna

Art installation in front of a church

© Hartmut Dumke

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Field Trip Vienna

Two people give a presentation.

© Petra Hirschler

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Presentation Japanese Science Day Technical University of Vienna

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© Hartmut Dumke

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Presentation Vienna

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© Hartmut Dumke

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Presentation Vienna

Several people sit and stand in a seminar room.

© Sibylla Zech

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Final event Vienna

The student group from Tokyo was visiting Vienna from September 30 to October 8, 2024. During this time, there were sightseeing tours and field trips, evening get-together activities, group work and presentations. The aim of the week was to take a critical look at the spatial challenges and development strategies in Austria and Japan. This was put into practice with an analysis of the urban space around the areas Schmelz, Westbahnhof and Äußere Mariahilfer Straße from an intercultural perspective.

The long-standing cooperation between the Research Department for Regional Planning and Regional Development and the Department of Architecture and Environmental Systems at the Shibaura Institute of Technology, opens an external URL in a new window in Tokyo was presented as part of the Technical University of Vienna's Japanese Science Day and demonstrates how enriching intercultural dialog can be in spatial planning. The scientific cooperation between Austria and Japan will be further intensified next year at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, opens an external URL in a new window.