In Prague, an information campaign for the Metropolitan Plan has kicked off

Prague - An information kiosk has been placed at Prague's Anděl today, where people can learn about the emerging new urban plan of the city, called the Metropolitan plan. Employees of the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), which prepared the draft document, will provide information. Representatives of the city council and IPR informed journalists about this today. The new plan, which will determine principles for development throughout Prague, will enter a discussion phase at the end of June, during which citizens will also be able to submit their comments. The urban plan is set to take effect starting in 2023. The plan has been criticized by the organization Arnika.

People, institutions, and city districts can submit comments from June 27 to July 26. In the meantime, they have the opportunity to study the draft plan online and may consult with their city district or at the information kiosk nicknamed Územák, which will stop for two days at 17 locations in Prague over the next two months. Additionally, people can view the entire draft along with commentary at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP) at the IPR headquarters next to the Emmaus Monastery.

According to IPR director Ondřej Boháč, this is the first time Prague has prepared such an information campaign for one of the documents being discussed. “For us, it is essential that people get involved in the preparation process,” he stated.

Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) hopes that the information campaign will help dispel myths surrounding the draft plan. The Metropolitan plan is particularly criticized by organizations led by the Arnika association, which claims that it will allow the majority of green spaces in the metropolis to be built upon. IPR argues that this is nonsense and is considering legal action against the association. Arnika labeled this as intimidation and called on Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning Petra Kolínská (Greens/Trojkoalice) to address the situation.

According to Kolínská, the city council aims to use the detailed knowledge of the city that its residents possess. No expert, she asserts, knows a given locality as well as someone who lives there.

The current urban plan began in 1999, and during its discussion, 16,000 suggestions were submitted. Given the development of civic associations and generally greater interest in local politics from Prague residents, a significant increase in comments is now expected. Comments from city districts carry more weight than those from individuals or companies, and must be discussed separately by the city council. Individual comments are approved collectively by council members based on their number.

The urban plan is a key document that determines where construction is permitted in the city and to what extent. The new plan has been the subject of disputes in the past, resulting in the replacement of Petr Hlaváček at the head of IPR and temporarily also the main author of the new plan, Roman Koucký. Ultimately, Koucký returned to lead the team preparing the plan after winning a bidding process. However, the preparation has encountered delays, for which the Prague leadership is being criticized by the opposition. It was originally supposed to take effect in 2020, but lawmakers extended the deadline by three years. Even so, it is not certain that the document will be completed by the new deadline.

Where and when the information kiosk "Územák" will stop:

Location	Date
Anděl	May 2 and 3
Petřiny	May 7 and 8
Zličín	May 9 and 10
Palmovka	May 14 and 15
Prosek	May 16 and 17
Kačerov	May 21 and 22
Uhříněves	May 23 and 24
Jiřího z Poděbrad	May 28 and 29
Pankrác	May 30 and 31
Nové Butovice	June 4 and 5
Sofijské náměstí	June 6 and 7
Chodov	June 11 and 12
Strašnická	June 13 and 14
Strossmayerovo náměstí	June 18 and 19
Černý Most	June 20 and 21
Kobylisy	June 25 and 26
Vítězné náměstí	June 27 and 28