Vienna has defended first place from 2019 in the ranking of the most transparent municipalities in Austria:

Report Muhammad Amir Siddique Vienna Austria.
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Vienna has defended first place from 2019 in the ranking of the most transparent municipalities in Austria. 50 criteria were examined for the evaluation.

The ranking of Transparency International Austria (TI) was last published in 2019. The index is intended to be a measuring instrument for which data and information are published by the municipalities. The 50 categories include budget and finance. According to the ranking,

the corresponding figures are already clearly visible in most municipalities. Information from areas such as personnel selection or spatial planning is also published to a large extent – although there are also legal requirements in some cases.

Vienna took first place with 87.45 percent of the possible points. Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) saw the award “as an incentive to further improve in the various areas of public administration”. Ludwig cited the city’s award platform, the City of Vienna App and transparency in subsidies from the City of Vienna as the basis for the increase. Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) referred to the government monitor, “on which online information is available at any

time about the current progress of more than 800 government projects”. Wels followed in second place with 78.14 percent of the possible points, followed by Linz (77.90 percent) and Graz (77.32 percent). Newcomer Wels improved by 19.44 percentage points.

“It’s nice that there are also surprises,” commented Eva Geiblinger, CEO of TI-Austria, on the growth. The Upper Austrian city has improved in many individual points, it was emphasized. Wels Mayor Andreas Rabl (FPÖ) reported that Transperency International was contacted to discuss what measures should be taken to increase the value. In general, Geiblinger and TI board member Alexander Picker was satisfied with the evaluation on Tuesday in the joint press conference with Mayor Ludwig,

Deputy Mayor Wiederkehr, Mayor Rabl and Linz Mayor Klaus Luger (SPÖ). Two-thirds of the 80 most populous communities have improved, only a third remained largely the same, it said. The categories municipal companies or procurement were rather below average in the ranking. According to TI, the latter is considered a problem area prone to corruption. Here “air up” was stated. The level of transparency correlates well with the size of the locations. In other words, larger communities or cities usually do better. According to TI-Austria, however, smaller municipalities can also be found in the front field. Current examples are Perchtoldsdorf (tenth place) and Hornstein (15th place).
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