Maria Vassilakou

Maria Vassilakou started her political career as Secretary General of the Austrian Students’ Union. In November 1996 she became Member of the Vienna Provincial Parliament and in 2004 Head of the Parliamentary Group of the Green Party. From November 2010 until July 2019 Maria Vassilakou served as Deputy Mayor of Vienna and Executive City Councillor for Urban Planning, Traffic & Transport, Climate Protection, Energy and Public Participation.

Maria Vassilakou is the first Executive City Councillor with a migration background. She was born in Greece and migrated to Austria as a student in the mid 80s. She studied Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Vienna (Magister degree, 1994) and acquired 2019 an MSc degree from the London School of Economics (LSE Cities Programme).

Maria Vassilakou envisages Vienna as an open, modern, affordable, family friendly and diverse city. In her 9 years serving as Deputy Mayor Maria Vassilakou was responsible for a vast transformation agenda comprising numerous innovative projects.

Maria Vassilakou wishes to provide her experience and know-how as a former leader of the world´s most livable city (e.g. according to Mercer for 10 consecutive years up to date) and work together with cities, NGO´s and multilateral organizations worldwide to develop solutions for livable cities and a sustainable urban future worldwide.