The population of Beroun is growing, the mayor is concerned about problems

Beroun - The population of Beroun is growing. In the last three years, 1,000 new people have moved to the city, and it now has over 18,000 inhabitants. However, this trend may bring the city problems in transportation services, public services, and insufficient capacity of educational facilities. This was stated by Beroun's mayor Jiří Besser to the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
    According to him, the growth in population is influenced by the privatization of municipal apartments as well as the construction of new ones. "On one hand, we are pleased with this development, but it is possible that in two years we will have to address difficulties associated with service capacity, inadequate transportation services, and a lack of places in kindergartens and later in schools," the mayor stated. He mentioned that these issues should also be addressed by developers, who should help the city manage this situation with their investments.
    The population of Beroun has increased by 9,000 people over the last 100 years. Many residents own an apartment yet have permanent residences elsewhere, most commonly in Prague, which is less than 40 kilometers away. Consequently, the city loses their taxes, even though it must provide services such as street cleaning and garbage collection. This issue affects many municipalities where satellite towns are emerging. Therefore, they demand that legislators reassess the distribution of taxes.
    Interest in housing in Beroun is growing, despite the continuous increase in prices for family houses, building plots, apartments, and market rents. For example, the price of an older panel apartment with a plastic core in original condition, in personal ownership with a total area of 70 square meters in Beroun, is, according to real estate agent Petr Spálený, 1.3 million crowns. A few years ago, the price of such an apartment did not exceed one million crowns.
    A part of the former Beroun barracks will be transformed into a residential complex in the future. The city sold the land for 51 million crowns to the Italian company ICKM, which is expected to build 11 apartment buildings with around 670 apartments within ten years. New housing projects are also being developed in nearby Králův Dvůr.
    Wealthier individuals are also interested in housing in Beroun. For them, the Harmonie Group is preparing the construction of 131 apartments with underground garages in the attractive location of Štulovny on the banks of the Berounka River. Work is expected to start in September or October, and the Beroun City Hall has already approved the architecture of the villas, apartment buildings, and villa houses, with prices ranging from 38,000 to 58,000 crowns per square meter. According to the company's management, this is a maximum of 75 percent of the price of comparable projects in Prague.