Prague has published a new zoning plan, comments can be submitted from June

Prague - The Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) has submitted the draft Metropolitan Plan to the city council. The document will be open for comments for 30 days starting from June 27. This was announced to journalists today by Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) and her deputy Petra Kolínská (SZ/Trojkoalice). Compared to the current draft of the new Metropolitan Plan, it specifies height regulations for buildings. It is expected to take effect from January 1, 2023. The current plan was approved in 1999. The new plan is available on the city's website. The proposal is criticized by the association Arnika.

"This document is extremely important for the development of the city. It reflects the city's vision for the coming decades. Of course, we will have the opportunity to discuss it in the coming months. From today, the official version will be accessible," said Krnáčová.

Architect Roman Koucký, who led the team preparing the plan, stated that a visionary ambition ultimately became a stabilizing plan. "It stabilized the height levels, read possible development areas, and we tried to find potential within Prague, and not in the meadows and fields of this city," said Koucký.

According to Koucký, the Metropolitan Plan should contribute to creating a document within 15 to 20 years that outlines Prague's development. "Prague has many building bans, and that is what is holding it back and harming it," he said. These bans should be lifted in the future according to him. This concerns areas in Bubny-Zátory, around the cargo station in Žižkov, or in Smíchov.

In contrast to the current plan, the draft addresses height regulation, for example. "This is an exclusivity of the Metropolitan Plan. As we researched, it has never been established anywhere," said Koucký. According to him, the Metropolitan Plan also does not only consider the functional use of the area but also looks at the character of the area and the urban neighborhoods. "That is, how it looks, where the square is, and how the residents perceive it. It is not just about monofunctional areas, and the greatest emphasis is on the structure of the city," he said.

People will be able to view the Metropolitan Plan starting April 27 at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP) at the IPR headquarters. They will also be able to familiarize themselves with it at the traveling stand of the IPR. The public can find the proposal on the website of the city council’s planning department, on the IPR pages, or on the city council's bulletin board. A web application will also be available. The official presentation will take place on May 23 at CAMP.

However, according to the Arnika association, the plan allows for the development of vacant areas in the city. "It proposes (IPR) to densify Prague’s construction at the expense of parks and green spaces, sports facilities, and even public amenities. It ignores the needs of residents and creates conditions that worsen living conditions in the capital," stated Arnika lawyer Vendula Zahumenská.