The discussion of the Metropolitan Plan will begin this spring

Prague - The discussion of the Prague Metropolitan Plan by municipalities and authorities will begin this spring. Currently, it is being assessed in terms of its impact on the sustainable development of the city. Adam Švejda, spokesperson for the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), which prepared the draft plan, informed ČTK. In the first phase, municipal parts and relevant authorities will express their opinions, followed by residents. The Metropolitan Plan could be valid from January 1, 2023. All construction in Prague is governed by this plan. The plan can be viewed on the IPR website.

"The evaluation of the (plan's) impact on the sustainable development of the area is being conducted by an external company. As soon as the evaluation results are available, we will be able to present the plan for discussion. The municipal department of urban development will decide when the discussion will begin, and it will manage the entire process," said Švejda.

Compared to the schedule approved last April, the preparation of the plan has been slightly delayed by several weeks. "There are no serious obstacles or disagreements; the delay has been caused by matters of an administrative nature," the spokesperson said.

Prague was supposed to have a new plan by 2020, but this deadline will not be met. Therefore, the Chamber of Deputies extended the validity of the current plans to 2022 as part of the mentioned amendment to the building law. The extension is not only due to Prague; many other Czech cities are in the same situation.

The zoning plan is a key document that determines where construction is permitted in the city and to what extent. The current plan has been in effect since 1999. In addition to height regulations, the Metropolitan Plan aims to stop the expansion of Prague onto vacant land in its vicinity. It will also give municipal parts the ability to further regulate the area by creating "small" plans with more specific restrictions.

In the past, there were disputes over the new zoning plan, which led to the departure of Petr Hlaváček from the leadership of IPR and temporarily also the main author of the plan, Roman Koucký. Prague and other large cities were originally supposed to have a new plan by 2020, but the deputies ultimately extended the deadline by three years. The preparation of the plan began during the tenure of Mayor Tomáš Hudeček (independent, then TOP 09).