Living in the Nordbahnviertel — what is it like?
Short and honest: you live on the site of the former Nordbahnhof, in Leopoldstadt, with the U1 nearby and a middle kept free as open landscape. The trade-off: the neighbourhood will only be finished around 2030, it is dense, and summers get warm.
Living Snapshot — the area in numbers
What is measured is Vienna Living Map’s Nordbahnviertel Grätzl. Its centre of gravity lies just west of the new neighbourhood, towards the Volkertviertel — the values describe the quarter together with this older edge. Orientation, not a verdict on individual flats.
What shapes daily life
The Nordbahnviertel is being built on around 85 hectares of the former Nordbahnhof, which opened in 1837 as the terminus of the Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn and served as a freight station until around 1978. Construction began in 1999; by 2030 around 20,000 people are meant to live here and as many to work.
Since the revised master plan of 2014 the middle stays open: the Freie Mitte, 9.3 hectares of nature and park, opens piece by piece — the urban wilderness in 2021, the central north in 2022, the central south in 2024. The older part has the Rudolf-Bednar-Park, plus two education campuses and, to the south, the Austria Campus with offices for around 9,000 jobs.
What works surprisingly well
The middle is landscape: instead of another block, 9.3 hectares of nature and park lie at the centre, with an urban wilderness of 1.3 hectares. In 2016 tree frogs and wall lizards were found on the site — rare species for whose sake construction projects had to wait.
The way into town is short: the U1 stops at Praterstern and Vorgartenstraße, and from Praterstern it is three stops to Stephansplatz. Since October 2020 tram O has run into the neighbourhood, since autumn 2025 the 12 as well, plus bus 82A.
What you consciously accept
The neighbourhood will only be finished around 2030 — until then building continues, and next to some houses there is still a construction site. The oldest parts are a good twenty years old, the newest just moved into.
Dense and warm: the neighbourhood’s modelled summer-heat index is 65 out of 100, above the Vienna median of 56, and on quiet it reaches 6.5, below the median of 6.8. Whether a flat faces the Freie Mitte or a narrow courtyard makes a big difference here.
20 minutes of everyday life
Five stops, one evening after work — every observation is true exactly here, not everywhere.
- U1 Vorgartenstraße 18:00
Getting off at the edge of the neighbourhood, one stop after Praterstern. - Rudolf-Bednar-Park 18:07
Around 31,000 square metres, open since 2008 — the park of the older part, built when the first houses stood around it. - Christine-Nöstlinger-Bildungscampus 18:11
On Leystraße, since September 2020 — the neighbourhood’s second campus after the Campus Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner of 2010. - The water tower 18:15
From 1890, listed since 1998, one of the few buildings left from the old railway grounds. It is being converted into a restaurant. - Urban wilderness 18:18
The wild part of the Freie Mitte: 1.3 hectares of nature area, open since November 2021.
Who is it for?
For anyone who wants to live new and close to the centre, with the U-Bahn, a school campus and a large open middle at the door — in Leopoldstadt rather than on the edge of the city. If you are looking for Altbau with stucco, old avenues or a lot of quiet, you will not find them here.
Check the light before you buy
In the Nordbahnviertel the opposite side often decides: facing the Freie Mitte you have a wide sky, facing a courtyard you have the next building. The light check calculates, for the address and floor, when direct sun reaches the windows — on 21 June and 21 December, with the official heights of the neighbouring buildings. The preview for one room is free. To the light check →
Open this place in Vienna Living Map →The Nordbahnviertel Grätzl portrait · Praterstern · Living near Praterstern · Leopoldstadt district · Karl-Marx-Hof · Arsenal
Method & sources
History, planning and figures: Wikipedia, article “Nordbahnviertel” (read on 30 September 2026). The Living Snapshot is the score of the Nordbahnviertel Grätzl from open data (City of Vienna OGD, OpenStreetMap, Wiener Linien, Statistics Austria) — orientation, not a rating of individual flats. The summer-heat index is a modelled value, not a measured temperature.
Frequently asked
How big will the Nordbahnviertel be?
Around 85 hectares; by 2030 around 20,000 people are meant to live here and as many to work. The urban master plan is by Heinz Tesar and Boris Podrecca (1991 to 1993), construction began in 1999, and in 2014 the plan was revised around the Freie Mitte.
What is the Freie Mitte?
The 9.3 hectares of nature and park at the centre of the neighbourhood. It opens in sections: the urban wilderness (1.3 hectares) in November 2021, the central north (2.4 hectares) in November 2022, the central south (1.6 hectares) in May 2024.
How is the Nordbahnviertel connected by public transport?
By the U1 at Praterstern and Vorgartenstraße, tram O (since October 2020) and the 12 (since autumn 2025), plus bus 82A. From Praterstern it is three U1 stops to Stephansplatz.
Which schools are in the Nordbahnviertel?
Two education campuses: the Campus Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner (since 2010, kindergarten and primary school for 670 children) and the Christine-Nöstlinger-Bildungscampus on Leystraße (since September 2020).
What is it like to live in the Nordbahnviertel?
New, central and with a lot of open space in the middle — but dense, not yet finished and warm in summer. The Grätzl reaches a Living Score of 80, strong on transit (8.5), weaker on quiet (6.5); the summer-heat index is 65 out of 100.