The Urban Sustainability Living Lab (USLL) serves as an exchange and communication platform focused on sustainable urban development. It actively supports the transition to sustainable city societies by integrating knowledge generated through research, teaching, and collaboration with various urban stakeholders.
The USLL is part of the Urban Studies working group at the Institute for Geography and Regional Research at the University of Vienna. The focus is on the analysis and design of interactions between social, ecological and technical processes in the city.
The city is viewed and understood as a system. The thematic focus is on urban sustainability transformations, urban social-spatial transformations, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), transdisciplinarity, smart and circular cities and urban ecosystem services.
Together with a wide range of actors from the urban context, such as city administrations, private and non-profit companies and civil society, we develop integrative solutions for the development of sustainable urban societies. The focus is on context-specific challenges and the potential of cities to contribute to global sustainability. Both research and teaching are inter- and transdisciplinary. Comparative studies are carried out in European and Latin American cities.
The work of the USLL
The approach of the USLL is inter- and transdisciplinary. Interdisciplinary addresses the multi-layered human-environment-technology interactions in urban spaces by bringing together complementary scientific fields. Transdisciplinary means identifying and addressing real-world problems together with urban stakeholders from politics, administration, the private sector and civil society through co-creative and co-productive processes and activities. The methods and approaches required for this are constantly being developed in close interaction between research, teaching and practical application.
The focus of the USLL is therefore on networking, the mutual learning of actors and processes, and the development of concrete solutions. The USLL is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The USLL is implemented and further developed by the “Urban Studies” working group. It is an active knowledge platform at the Department for Geography and Regional Research at the University of Vienna (Austria).
USLL researchers work with students on the sustainability of cities around the world in various courses. This continuously updated map shows the cities that have been represented by students in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master in Urban Studies (4CITIES) in recent years and were the subject of their sustainability analyses.
By clicking on the individual city icons on the interactive map, you can find out what the students have discovered about the current challenges facing cities, their transformation processes and the SDGs.
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October 30, 2026World Cities Day 2026 – Regenerating the City: Adequate Housing for All
On UN World Cities Day 2026, the USLL reflects on research, teaching and public engagement related to this year´s theme of regeneration and adequate housing for all. -
October 20, 2026
A different perspective on urban studies
The summer term 2026 began with a journey back in time. We traveled to 1960s New York City, explored one of its most influential urban environments and immersed ourselves in the urban challenges that inspired Jane Jacobs' work . Through her lens as an activist, writer and urban researcher, we dig into urban challenges. -
October 12, 2026
Pluriversal Perspectives on Inhabiting Vienna: Reflections from the RC21 Fringe Event
The RC21 Conference “Inequalities and the City”, held in Vienna from 20 to 22 July 2026, was framed by the question of how cities can foster principles and practices of justice and equality in times of intersecting and multi-scalar crises. More than 1200 researchers attended the conference and shared their recent research in plenary sessions, roundtables, keynote speeches, and excursions.
