The negotiations with JCDecaux will not resume until after the competition is announced

Foster + Partners: Urban Furniture for JCDecaux, 1990

Prague - Prague will choose a uniform design for benches, bins, and public transport stops in the architectural competition. It aims to take into account the historic center and test the functionality of new urban furniture in practice at several locations. Only after the competition is announced will it return to negotiations with the French advertising company JCDecaux regarding the terms of the contract for operating the current furniture. This was stated by Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) to ČTK. In the past, there have been repeated discussions about terminating the contract with JCDecaux, which the city considers unfavorable.
    "One day the contract will definitely end, if not sooner, then certainly later, and the city will need to have some proposal or idea on how to secure the furnishings," the mayor said regarding the competition. The goal is to unify the appearance of urban furniture and also to evaluate whether Prague will manage the benches itself or whether it will choose a manager. Several prototypes should first appear on the streets, in places where urban furniture is currently lacking.
    "We have chosen the path of announcing an architectural-design competition; this is the first step, the next step will be negotiations with the supplier, namely JCDecaux," Krnáčová stated. "According to our analyses, the revenues that the city receives are not sufficient compared to other European cities where JCDecaux operates," she added.
    The mayor has been discussing the possibility of terminating the contract since she took office. She is unable to estimate how long the negotiations will take. "I am trying to keep my promises, it's just that there are some objective reasons that prevent me from fulfilling them in the time I would like," she stated.
    The JCDecaux company has repeatedly denied the alleged unfavorable terms of the contract. Recently, through the media, it called on the councilors to negotiate. The mayor said she met with the management once. The company operates 600 advertising stops and another 300 without advertising, as well as 1,500 meters of advertising railings and 20 public toilets. It is also responsible for their maintenance and cleaning. It pays the city ten million crowns annually.
    The last discussions about a possible contract revision were related to Prague's building regulations, which stirred up the debate on advertising regulation in Prague. A competing company, BigBoard, claims that the contract with JCDecaux disadvantages competitors in the advertising sector.