The drama has come to an end

From a former drug court to a pretty “piazza”

This is what the new Bozner Platz in Innsbruck should look like: in 20 years! The trees will need time to reach this size.

(Bild: Stadt Innsbruck)

The toilet facilities once had to be closed in order to deal with the "drug problem" on Bozner Platz. Now the "calling card" of Innsbruck, which 10,000 people pass through every day, is being spruced up. 31 trees and a meeting zone are to invite people to linger.

Innsbruck's municipal council met before the summer break to finalize a few things. One of the birth pangs of Innsbruck's government was the question: what do we do with the unfinished applications from the old municipal council?

Almost 200 applications end up in the wastepaper basket
The excitement was great - 250 motions that had already been voted on but were still unfinished would - as reported - have been thrown in the garbage can if the new government had not given the opposition the opportunity to "carry over" motions of their choice into the new period - as long as they did not contradict the coalition agreement.

153 motions were received, those from the coalition were deducted (those in government are not dependent on motions of this kind) - the rest were checked to see whether they were in line with the "Future Contract" or not. This was the case for 58 of them, so that is how many applications are still being processed. 192 applications therefore end up in the wastepaper basket.

The drama has come to an end
Now it's highly official: the drama has come to an end! The Bolzano square or "Piazza", as the city government calls it, was approved on Thursday. Every day, 10,000 people cross Innsbruck's "calling card" to get from the train station to the city center. Of course, there was still criticism from the opposition (for over two hours), even if the mood was much more respectful compared to the last legislative period. 31 trees (which need to be even bigger), permeable soil and a meeting zone are the key points.

The city government does not want meadows. Lawns are important, but in parks, not in the city center where so many people cross. Construction is due to start in spring 2025. The meeting zone (20 km/h allowed) was criticized; a pedestrian zone (5 km/h allowed) would make more sense, according to the opposition. "This would allow 50 percent more funding to be collected," emphasized the ALI list. The FPÖ, KPÖ, ALI, Liste Fritz and Liste Tursky voted against the resolution (or abstained).

"Those who don't inherit much are denied ownership"
The topic of the current hour, selected by Liste Fritz, was: "Stopping housing price rip-offs: putting a stop to speculators and investors". Liste Fritz: "The current rule in Innsbruck and Tyrol is: if you don't win and don't inherit a lot, you are denied ownership".

The city's "Future Contract" stipulates that when land is rezoned from open land to building land, 75 percent of the city must be offered for sale at housing subsidy conditions. In the case of changes to development plans, 75 percent of the added value must also be realized at housing subsidy conditions. This is intended to further increase the number of city apartments. At present, 17,500 of around 87,000 apartments are under municipal contract. The government can now prove its worth with a major project in Amras, where 140 new privately financed apartments are to be built. Local residents have submitted a petition against the project with around 600 signatures.