In the 1970s, river Danube was regulated, a long stretched island was built, the river basically split. The conservative opposition was strictly against it, especially against the island. It would become a wasteland, ripe with crime, or whatever.
Suffice to say, it turned into one of the biggest triumphs of the Social Democratic government. The island is one of Vienna’s most-frequented parks, less a tourist attraction than a part of everyday life for young and old.