City of Prague

The city and its environment

After the 1920s, Prague developed according to a strategic plan, leaving large green areas open to serve as a green belt and restricting the growth of the city to specified development areas. Today, the city is again living up to its history as one of the central European metropolises, rapidly modernising the previously neglected inner city and bringing it up to its previous, high standard. Since the city is the heart of the administration and of the newly emerging post-industrial economy, new forms of segregation have been developing in its older, high-quality sectors which have been reclaimed by the middle class. This has caused a population shift that has driven some of the poorer and older people to the city’s periphery. Since a large part of the population is living quite a distance from the centre, commercial development has become a very attractive field for investors.

Housing situation and large housing estates

Prague’s 56 large, post-war housing areas encircle the old city. At a distance of between eight and twenty-five kilometres, they form a belt around the city’s pre-war building district. Only six of the estates are adjacent to the centre. All styles are represented, from the ‘socialist realism’ of the 1950s to the high-quality modernism of the very large estates of the 1960s and early 1970s. The newest of the large estates are also the most monotonous. While most of the post-war estates were built using traditional techniques, 25 of the largest estates consist of prefabricated buildings. Due to a natural decline in population, the rehabilitation of the inner city, and the exodus to the countryside, the ratio of people living in large estates has decreased from 37 to 32 per cent over a five-year period, reducing the flat’s density of use.

Problems and areas requiring action

• large estates not generally seen as a problem requiring special action by the public
• deterioration of the housing stock and beginnings of segregation in some estates, rather more of a problem for local administrations than the city

Actors and activities

At the city level, actions are directed at improvements of the public and technical infrastructure as a prerequisite for investment. The relative independence of the districts creates problems in arriving at a co-ordinated strategy for housing development that includes all parts of the city.

‘Prague's 11th district, the Southern Town Estate’

Southern Town, one of Prague’s boroughs, is the largest post-war housing estate in the Czech Republic. It was planned around 1968 and built during the 1970s and 80s as an independent suburb of the capital, with an independent social and commercial as well as industrial infrastructure. Since the original plan was never implemented, the district became a bedroom town like so many other estates, with the majority of its inhabitants commuting to the city centre for work, culture, and other amenities. Although the situation has been improving since 1989, it is still not satisfactory. Today, the lack of urban structure is considered to be an asset, since the potential for future investments into an ‘up-to-date’ urban development could become attractive for internal as well as external investors. The estate’s proximity to the old city and the open space are also important assets for future development, as is the social stability of its middle-class population.

Physical and ecological situation

• suburban landscape of high quality, with greenery and lakes
• large and often undefined, unused space
• problems with garbage collection, sewage, water treatment, and central heating technology

Problems

• deteriorating housing stock due to lack of funds for maintenance (roofs, concrete, windows)
• relative decrease in standard due to competing new and renovated private housing stock
• lack of housing for special target groups, e.g. handicapped and older people
• crime, vandalism, unsafe conditions for people and property, insufficient social controls
• lack of facilities for commercial and cultural development
• ambiguous jurisdiction and legal situation of the city and the district, resultant difficulties in motivating private investors
• lack of work opportunities near the estate
• shortage of safe parking space
• restitution claims on the unused land, slowing down the process of new construction
• lack of central government attention to and financial support of the physical rehabilitation of the housing stock

Strategies

• strategic studies already in existence for the future development of the district ‘towards a real town’, a functioning and attractive municipality with a future
• present, favourable social structure to be preserved by providing differentiated housing and work opportunities
• urban structure (boulevard, workplaces, commerce) to be ‘finished’, along with projects for the rehabilitation of two blocks of flats
• plans for urban amenities and the development of the administrative functions of this city district
• support for local initiatives and the promotion of the participation of residents and local entrepreneurs.
• international Cupertino within ECOS Overture, ERDF, and PHARE through an exchange of experiences
• upgrade of certain central areas in an effort to attract wealthier inhabitants to the area and to avoid losing such residents to nearby, smaller towns and to the refurbished city centre
• first-time allocation of US $330,000 in 1997 to regenerate the technical infrastructure of the district

Source: EA.UE: A future for large housing estates, Berlin 1998

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