Urban farming and production, local and social relationships as well as conceptual hospitality and innovative approaches to the circular economy: These topics have been at the center of the Urban Food & Design format of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK and Vienna Business Agency since 2018. They form the starting point for this year’s focus: Based on the topic of the city as a resource, processes of change in urban food supply will be initiated in 2023. Creative professionals developed concrete design solutions together with companies from the food sector that are now being presented in the festival.

The city is an endless source of possibilities. Know-how (traditional or up-to-date), land (developed or agricultural), and technology (old and new) play key roles in this process and can be exploited as a means of making metropolitan regions fit for the future. At the beginning of this year, the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK and Vienna Business Agency launched three challenges that address the subject of the city as a resource. The nominated companies Arkeon, City Farm Augarten, and Wiener Gusto defined challenges in their companies for which solutions were sought from designers.

The three selected projects are seen as starting points for long-term cooperation between the creative and food industries and will be shown as part of an exhibition at the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK.

As a second important element of Urban Food & Design, KOMPOST studio and the Vienna Business Agency are jointly curating and organizing the symposium THE CITY AS A RESOURCE. This year, the format is also being enhanced by a sensual performance salon created by the artist Maja Renn and the chef Piotr Matkowski.