Though threats of Turkish invasion had subsided, Vienna still had its city walls and glacis, a surrounding green space, during the middle of the 19th century. These walls were kept, not to keep invaders out, but to serve as a symbol of the Empire's power over the people, who mostly lived in suburbs outside the walls surrounding the city. The glacis was maintained by an Imperial ruling forbidding development in the area surrounding the walls, providing a field of fire against revolting lower classes from the surrounding suburbs. Instead of being developed, however, the glacis was used as a military training and parade ground, as well as a recreational area for the Viennese people.

The Revolution of 1848 polarized the city on the issue of the city walls and the glacis. The liberal middle class, students and working class wanted them removed, while the military and the aristocracy wanted them to remain, citing the revolution as proof that they were needed as a deterrant to any further uprisings. The issue was resolved with the patent of 1857, introduced by the Emperor Franz Josef, ordering the destruction of the walls and the development of the area formerly occupied by the walls and the glacis. This resulted in the incorporation of the surrounding suburbs into the city, the construction of an aquaduct to bring in fresh water from the hills, a drainage system, and gas lighting. In 1860, a map, endorsed by Franz Josef himself, was published, which outlined the urban development plan. The area was to be replaced with a broad street surrounding the old city, called the Ringstrasse. It was to be 200 feet wide and two and a half miles long, in a heptagonal shape, with plazas, parks, and new buildings on either side.