Vienna's Tech City

Most people come to Vienna to see the museums and the Opera (amongst other things).

One thing you might not expect to see in Vienna is a modern technology village. While J was in his first conference session, I went exploring as I always do. Instead of heading straight to the city center, I decided to walk north to UN city. There is a large UN office and technology hub in Vienna Donau City. Young business professionals with company badges breeze in and out of high rises. There are gyms, restaurants, trendy coffee shops, and lots of technies. This little city is very modern looking and quite a contrast from the traditional Vienna landscape across the Danube.

To get to Donau City, you need to walk across the bridge over the Danube River. There is a pedestrian walkway under the bridge for non-motor vehicle travellers (like myself). Upon beginning my walk across the bridge, I was a little nervous that maybe I'd gone the wrong way. There was a lot of graffiti on the pedestrian walkway and I didn't see anyone else walking around me. Later, I passed a group of tourists with bulky cameras around their necks and I knew I was okay.

Once I reached the Donau City, it sort of reminded me of Washington, D.C.'s outskirt cities like Rosslyn in Northern Virginia. There is even a metro stop in D.C. called Vienna. Donau City must be the new up-and-coming place to work in Vienna. I certainly saw a lot of well dressed yuppies.

Because I like to really get to know a place when I travel, I spent some time wondering around Donau City. I took the pedestrian walkway on the other side of the bridge and this time passed many more people walking to work. There is a well connected Metro stop right at the center of Donau City, but I choose to walk whenever possible.

My next stop was the equally modern looking Vienna University of Economics and Business where the finance conference was being held. The campus is composed of bright, futuristic buildings. The Vienna University of Economics and Business could not look more different than my southern U.S. university.