Brownfields with a Future

Empty halls, disused sites, abandoned commercial plots: for most people, brownfields are a fringe topic. For us, they were the starting point of a film series about one of the most important location questions facing Lower Austria.

Land is finite. Every square metre sealed on a greenfield site is gone. At the same time, many municipalities have vacant sites that are already fully serviced: water, sewerage, electricity, road access, everything is in place.

This is exactly where the ecoplus business agency's brownfield survey comes in. And this is exactly the tension we wanted to make visible: not as statistics, but as stories of people who are turning vacancy back into a future in their municipalities.

Brownfields in Lower Austria: 920 hectares of potential

In 2023, ecoplus launched the first state-wide survey, contacting all 573 municipalities in Lower Austria. Around two thirds, 386 municipalities, responded (Land NÖ, April 2024).

The result: more than 700 potential sites with a total area of around 920 hectares, covering brownfields as well as plots zoned for business but not yet built on. ecoplus now aims to steer companies looking for a location towards these sites, rather than sealing new land.

This makes Lower Austria a pioneer. The anonymised data is now even feeding into a nationwide, AI-supported brownfield survey (Land NÖ, August 2024).

Four municipalities, four perspectives

Rather than explaining sites from above, we put the people who make the decisions on the ground in front of the camera. Four interviews, four perspectives on the same goal: developing from within before expanding outwards.

Sonja Gattringer, Land Management & Geoinformation, Wiener Neustadt. She shows how the city becomes the link between landowners and businesses. Her strongest story: a large electrical company that wanted to relocate was persuaded to stay and has since grown to 10,000 m².

Markus Bayer, Mayor of Zellerndorf. For him, the old brick kiln halls are part of the town's identity. Instead of demolition: new uses, from business settlements to co-working. And he observes a clear shift in thinking among companies that deliberately choose to stay in existing buildings.

Franz Göd, Mayor of Sigmundsherberg. 24 hectares of zoned building land in the town centre, fully serviced. His approach: close the gaps within rather than growing outwards. His conclusion from one redevelopment: a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Rainer Handlfinger, Mayor of Obergrafendorf. He speaks openly about rejections and the many kilometres driven to mobilise sites. And about why it is still worth it: new jobs, a lively town centre and businesses that stay in the community for the long term.

Our approach: one topic, one system of formats

An explainer film about land zoning would not have reached anyone. So we told the story documentary-style: real people, real places, no platitudes. Every statement in the film is taken word for word from the interviews; nothing was rephrased.

The footage became an entire content system, not just a single film:

The reels follow a clear dramatic structure: a strong line draws the viewer in within the first few seconds, the interview question provides context, and the answer delivers the substance. This turns a complex topic into content that works in the feed.

Conclusion

Brownfields are not a problem, but a resource. This project shows that even an unwieldy location topic can move people when it is told through people rather than numbers.

Thank you to ecoplus and to Sonja Gattringer, Markus Bayer, Franz Göd and Rainer Handlfinger for their openness in front of the camera.

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