Tulln brings neighbours together. From one pilot district to the whole city.

Meeting people beyond your own circle of friends.

Through ‘Stadt des Miteinanders’, Tulln is working towards a city where residents know and help each other. The online platforms it had used before did not create the connections it wanted. Contact often stayed within existing circles. Large groups felt impersonal; on some platforms, advertising dominated.

Tulln wanted a place where neighbours could find each other for questions, help or company. Including people who had never met before.

Start with a pilot in one district.

A personal letter from the mayor invited residents in the pilot district to join Hoplr. More than 300 households registered: 22% of households in the district. Over 90% of users returned during the first four weeks.

Meanwhile, the communications team spent two months testing the dashboard for local communication. The city evaluated both how residents used Hoplr and how it worked for its own staff.

36% of survey respondents got to know new neighbours.

In the pilot survey, 36% of respondents said they had used Hoplr to make contact with neighbours they had not known before. Stefanie Jirgal, Operations Lead for the ‘Stadt des Miteinanders’ initiative, explains how the city invited residents to join:

The neighbourhood stories Tulln published in July 2026 show what those connections looked like. One new resident, for example, mentioned her love of knitting and received an invitation for coffee.

After the pilot came the whole city.

85% of survey respondents supported introducing Hoplr across Tulln. The average recommendation score was 8.4 out of 10. The city decided to expand Hoplr to seven neighbourhoods. Within these neighbourhoods, residents can create smaller chat groups for their street or apartment building.

The expansion featured in the city newspaper, on the municipal website and in the local press. Residents received another personal invitation letter. According to the Hoplr article of 8 July 2026, more than 1,600 households joined in less than two weeks: 22% of all households in Tulln.

The communications team valued the ability to target messages: a road closure notice could go to one neighbourhood, while an event invitation could reach the whole city.

What can your municipality learn from this?

1. Test with residents and staff.

   The pilot district showed how neighbours used Hoplr. At the same time, the communications team could check whether the dashboard suited its work.

2. Invite residents personally.

   Tulln used a letter from the mayor, both for the pilot and when expanding across the city.

3. Ask what connections people are making.

   The pilot survey looked beyond registrations: 36% of respondents had made contact with neighbours they had not known before.

Community starts with getting to know each other.

Tulln wanted residents to meet people beyond their own circle. The pilot showed that Hoplr helped: more than a third of survey respondents had made contact with neighbours they had not known before. That gave the city a reason to expand. The strength of the approach lies in combining an invitation from the city with residents’ own initiative: they turn a post into a walk, a meeting or a helping hand.