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Austria is a federation of nine provinces (Bundesländer). Federal planning is characterized by overlapping jurisdictions. The federal as well as the provincial governments can be active in planning only on topics delegated by the Constitution.
Because of the lack of a federal spatial planning law, national planning is based on a voluntary agreement between the governments in the Austrian Conference on Regional Planning (ÖROK).
Regional and town planning is based on the nine planning laws of the provinces. Surprising new tendencies in regional development are management agencies and new forms of intercommunal cooperations. Utilization of land for building through contracts between the community and the landowner has been discussed intensively in recent years.
To meet the new requirements of planning, the Faculty of Architecture and Planning at the Technical University of Vienna developed a recent qualification profile for both studies and developed two new curricula. Basic education is given in the first three years, followed by a variety of thematic modules, students specifying their study according to their interest. The synergy between architects and planners has always been seen as a big advantage. The new curriculums strengthen these complementarities.