Prague 5 wants to build and expand elementary schools

Prague – The City Hall of Prague 5, in response to demographic analysis, is planning the construction of new elementary schools and the expansion of some existing ones. Due to planned residential construction, the district will need an additional 1,560 places for schoolchildren within five years, said Mayor Renáta Zajíčková to ČTK. New schools are expected to be built on Hřebenkách and at Cibulky, and there are also plans for a school as part of the Smíchov City project at the former Smíchov freight station.

The mayor has contacted the councilor of the capital city, Vít Šimral (Pirates), regarding the land that the district would like to acquire from the city for the construction of a school at Cibulky. According to the mayor, the land currently holds outdated wooden structures from the 1950s, which are used by the Pod Radnicí elementary school and attended by about thirty children. "The land would be very suitable for the construction of a new school, which would include both classrooms of our elementary school and a special school, whose founder is the magistrate of the capital city of Prague," explained Zajíčková. She added that according to the district's plans, the new school should be built within three years.

New schools are also expected to be constructed on Hřebenkách and in Smíchov. In the latter case, the district has already selected the design of the building in an architectural competition, and its construction should follow the project for the new neighborhood on the brownfield between Smíchovské nádraží and Na Knížecí, planned by Sekyra Group.

In addition, according to Zajíčková, the city hall is also planning further school expansions, for example in Waltrovka, Jinonice, or Košíře. "For instance, in Košíře there is only one nine-year elementary school, which is the Nepomucká elementary school. Additionally, graduates from the Podbělohorská elementary school are moving here. One of the possible solutions is therefore the expansion of this school so that fifth-graders can continue there," she stated. The city hall, on the other hand, does not plan to expand the school on Plzeňská due to heavy traffic.

According to demographic forecasts, primarily due to new construction, the population of Prague 5 is expected to increase by 12,000 to 19,000 people from the current roughly 86,000 by the end of 2030. The number of children and seniors is also expected to grow significantly. The total population of Prague is approximately 1.32 million according to the latest figures from the Czech Statistical Office, with Prague 4 being the most populated district with over 130,000 residents.