Living in Seestadt Aspern — what is it like?
Short and honest: you live in a district being built around a lake, with the U-Bahn, schools and largely car-free streets — and only a good third of it is finished. The trade-off: construction sites will be part of daily life into the 2030s, and the centre is far away.
Living Snapshot — the area in numbers
Vienna Living Map’s Grätzl only touch the Seestadt at its edge. What is measured is therefore the three nearest residential areas — Seestadt Aspern, Essling and Asperner See. Orientation for the surroundings, not a verdict on a single building.
What shapes daily life
Seestadt Aspern is being built on the former Aspern airfield, which operated from 1912 to 1977. The master plan was adopted in 2007, construction began in 2010, and the first residents moved in in September 2014. In March 2026 more than 12,000 people live in around 5,000 flats; by the 2030s it is meant to be more than 25,000, plus more than 20,000 jobs and training places.
The middle is water: the Asperner See is around five hectares and up to seven metres deep, fed by groundwater, and the quarters grow around it. Around Hannah-Arendt-Platz, the first neighbourhood, lie a shopping street, the first education campus and a grammar school. The streets carry women’s names — by mid-2022, 51 had been named after women, from Ada Lovelace to Maria Trapp.
What works surprisingly well
The U-Bahn came before the residents: the U2 has run to the Seestadt since October 2013, and the first people moved in a year later. Since December 2018 the S80 has stopped at Aspern Nord station, and since October 2025 tram 27 has run here. Cars are kept in what are currently eleven collective garages near the buildings; public space stays largely car-free.
Open space is the plan, not what is left over: half the area is meant to stay open once complete, and around 19.5 hectares of lake and park already lie in the district. The Am Seebogen quarter was the first built as a “sponge city” — rainwater flows into underground gravel basins and is available to the street trees; once complete, two thirds of the Seestadt are meant to work this way.
What you consciously accept
The Seestadt is only a good third built (as of March 2026) and will keep growing into the 2030s. Building plots, cranes and construction traffic will be part of daily life for years — if you move in now, you watch the neighbourhood being finished around you.
The centre is far: the Seestadt lies around ten kilometres north-east of the city centre, and every trip there is a longer U-Bahn ride. And new squares can be hard — in the Seeparkquartier they were so heavily paved that more green and water were added in 2022.
20 minutes of everyday life
Five stops, one morning from the first neighbourhood to the U-Bahn — every observation is true exactly here, not everywhere.
- Hannah-Arendt-Platz 7:40
The pioneer quarter, the Seestadt’s first neighbourhood: a shopping street, the first education campus (since 2015) and the grammar school sit around the square and the park of the same name. - By the lake 7:47
Around five hectares of water, up to seven metres deep, fed by groundwater. The buildings stand around the lake, not behind it. - Elinor-Ostrom-Park 7:51
In the Am Seebogen quarter north of the lake, the first one built entirely as a sponge city: rainwater from the streets goes into gravel basins under the trees, not into the sewer. - HoHo Wien 7:57
On Wangari-Maathai-Platz stands one of the tallest timber-hybrid high-rises in the world: 24 storeys, 84 metres, 75 per cent wood. - U2 Seestadt 7:59
The terminus, running since October 2013 — a year before the first residents. It takes you to the Ring without changing.
Who is it for?
For anyone who wants new-build rather than Altbau, the U-Bahn and a lake at the door, and can live with construction around them — families included: the education campus and the grammar school are in the neighbourhood. If you are after Gründerzeit houses, a Beisl and old avenues, or need to get into the Innere Stadt quickly every day, each day starts here with a longer ride.
Check the light before you buy
Some Seestadt buildings are so new that the city data has no measured height for them yet. The light check still calculates for the address and floor: with the official heights of the neighbouring buildings, and where your own building has not been measured yet, with an explicitly labelled estimate from the building class. The preview for one room is free. To the light check →
Open this place in Vienna Living Map →The Seestadt Aspern Grätzl portrait · Essling · Stadlau and the Mühlwasser · Donaustadt district · Karl-Marx-Hof · Arsenal
Method & sources
History and development: Wikipedia, article “Seestadt Aspern”; Wien 3420 aspern Development AG, factsheet “Facts & Figures” (as of March 2026) and “Autos + Parkplätze” on aspern-seestadt.at (read on 30 September 2026). The Living Snapshot shows the scores of the nearest Grätzl Seestadt Aspern, Essling and Asperner See from open data (City of Vienna OGD, OpenStreetMap, Wiener Linien, Statistics Austria) — orientation, not a rating of individual flats.
Frequently asked
How many people live in Seestadt Aspern?
More than 12,000, in around 5,000 flats (as of March 2026). By the 2030s it is meant to be more than 25,000, plus more than 20,000 jobs and training places. So far a good third has been built.
How do you get from the Seestadt to the centre?
By the U2: it has stopped at Aspern Nord and Seestadt since October 2013 and runs to the Ring without changing. Aspern Nord station is also served by the S80, and since October 2025 tram 27 has run here.
What used to be on the Seestadt site?
The Aspern airfield, opened in 1912 and operated until 1977. The master plan for the Seestadt was adopted in 2007, construction began in 2010, and the first residents moved in in September 2014.
Where do you park in the Seestadt?
In collective garages: there are currently eleven publicly accessible ones, with long-term and short-term spaces, right next to the residential buildings. Public space stays largely car-free; the target is 40 per cent of trips on foot and by bike, 40 per cent by public transport and 20 per cent by car.
What is it like to live in Seestadt Aspern?
New, with a lot of planned open space, and still under construction: the U-Bahn, the lake, schools and largely car-free streets are there, the neighbourhood will only be finished in the 2030s, and the centre is far. The nearest residential areas reach Living Scores of 86 (Seestadt Aspern), 86 (Essling) and 88 (Asperner See).