The urban plan of Brno will allow the construction of homes for up to 170,000 new residents

Brno - The new territorial plan for Brno will offer the opportunity to utilize more than 100 brownfields and build homes for up to 170,000 new residents. However, the expansion of the city, where 400,000 people currently live, is subject to the construction of transportation and technical infrastructure, as well as civic amenities. This was stated to journalists today by councilors Petr Bořecký (ANO) and Jan Tesárek, the director of the Office of the Architect of the City of Brno (KAM), which prepared the document in collaboration with the municipal department of urban planning and development. If approved by the representatives at their meeting on December 10, it will likely come into effect in February 2025.

The basic division of the new plan is into stabilized areas and areas of change. In stabilized areas, the city does not expect disproportionate redevelopment of the territory, and thus areas with family houses on the outskirts of the city, including green spaces, should be protected. In areas of change, the city maximally supports construction; however, the requirement for green space representation remains. "We paid attention to the environment and tried to ensure that the new territorial plan protects it as much as possible," said Bořecký.

The areas of change allow an increase in the population by 170,000. This is a theoretical capacity conditional on further development. "It won't happen immediately. The new plan is not what will kickstart construction. There are currently up to 10,000 apartments permitted in Brno that are not being built; the problem lies elsewhere," noted the councilor.

However, the new territorial plan should simplify the construction of flood protection measures and facilitate the development of brownfields, which are mainly old and unused factory sites. According to Tesárek, it will offer the opportunity to utilize 104 brownfields, including the Špitálka site. The changes will affect investors, landowners, and even permanent residents. The aim is to create areas that allow for mixed-use. "We want to create an area where one can live, work, there is greenery, and space for relaxation. We don't want large mono-functional areas," stated Tesárek.

If the representatives approve the plan, Brno will have a new document after 30 years. The city has been striving for it for more than 20 years; in June 2022, the representatives did not approve the completed territorial plan and had it revised again. KAM incorporated six directives from that time into it. For example, it was necessary to verify the justification and reasonableness of changes from building plots to non-building plots. As a result, KAM returned about 40 hectares to building plots compared to 2022. "This was also made possible by working with the digital cadastre," added Tesárek.

Last but not least, it was necessary to thoroughly reassess the comments from the city districts. "We re-evaluated 115 unmet requests, of which we incorporated 75, partially incorporated 29, and did not incorporate 11. We tried to meet the requests where possible. However, there were contradictory requests in some cases. For example, Brno-north does not want a road connection over Sadová, while Královo Pole prefers it. Ultimately, we placed it in the territorial reserve," added Bořecký.

The planner had to deal not only with the demands of the city districts but also with thousands of comments and objections from people. According to Bořecký and Tesárek, it is essentially an endless process where new owners come forward or leadership in city districts changes. Anyone who disagrees with the territorial plan can request a change after its approval, and the city will have the request assessed. "We anticipate that in the first phase we will be overwhelmed with changes; we are also prepared for lawsuits. However, we have lawyers in the team who confirm compliance with the law," said the councilor. Tesárek added that the changing of a territorial plan is not a flaw; rather, it is a characteristic of the plan.