In the second episode of the InclusiveCity podcast, Vivian Monteiro and Roland Krebs talk with Eugene Quinn, Vienna-based urbanist, DJ, storyteller and co-founder of Whoosh. Their conversation explores the overlooked power of walking as a way of experiencing, understanding and connecting with the city. For Eugene, walking is more than a mode of transport: it is “free medicine”, a form of slow urban exploration that supports mental health, creativity, social interaction and a sense of belonging. Drawing on his unconventional walking tours across Vienna, he introduces the idea of “Street Capital”, a way of thinking about how lively, social, playful and welcoming a street feels, and asks what makes some streets exciting places to be while others feel empty and disconnected.
The conversation also looks at Vienna through the lens of inclusivity, public space and everyday urban life. Eugene discusses tourism for locals, the social differences between neighbourhoods, the role of children and schools, gender and walking, and the importance of encountering people who are different from ourselves. From the Danube Canal and Vienna’s open courtyards to street art, ugly architecture and the city’s changing public spaces, the episode invites us to see Vienna differently, not simply as a destination, but as a city to explore, question and participate in. Ultimately, it asks what an inclusive city might look like: a place where everyone is welcome, where curiosity and encounter are part of everyday life, and where walking can become a simple but powerful tool for building connection.
About our guest:
Eugene Quinn is a London-born, Vienna-based urbanist, DJ, and storyteller, and co-founder of Whoosh, a creative city-exploration project behind Vienna Walking Week with more than 150 unconventional walking tours from street art and social housing art to "Ugly Vienna" and smell-based tours of the city. Eugene also teaches spatial planning at TU Wien and developed the concept of "street capital." Whoosh's "tourism for locals" approach is a self-described response to the climate crisis, encouraging Viennese residents to rediscover their own city rather than travel elsewhere.
Henni+Milli is a temporary, consumer-free public "placemaking" project and community testing ground located along the Donaukanal in Vienna, specifically named after the Henriette-Fahrbach-Promenade and Emilie-Turecek-Promenade near the Franzensbrücke. This project was implemented in the framework of the FFG funded DUT InclusiveCity Project and implemented with the funding of the MA45/City of Vienna.
