Trieste endgame
By Francesco Marchi
In the first two weeks of May 2026, I conducted preliminary fieldwork in Vienna in preparation for a longer research period planned for autumn 2026. Despite its role as a transit and destination hub, Vienna—and Austria more broadly—remains an under-researched site in relation to the shifting geographies of “the Game” and the Balkan route.
During this fieldwork, I met with NGO representatives, scholars, activists, and people on the move to start deepen my understanding of a range of issues and themes to be explored further in the autumn. These include the socio-spatial functioning of formal asylum facilities in and around the city, the mobility of people on the move from Hungary and Slovenia towards Germany via Austria, and the informal spatialities that underpin these trajectories. Initial conversations and observations during the fieldwork suggest that the informal mobilities of people on the move in and through the (sub)urban area of Vienna are characterised by a certain degree of invisibility, especially when compared to other transit/destination hubs of the Balkan route (e.g., Trieste).
I also visited the area surrounding the Traiskirchen camp, one of Austria’s largest asylum centres, located approximately 40 minutes by train from Vienna’s city centre. This site may prove to be a key location for further investigation within the scope of my research project.