According to a survey of Prague-based developers published by aktualne.cz, the Czech capital needs to build more highrise buildings. Doing so, they say, would improve the image of the city while making its operations more efficient and would reduce pressure for the city to expand along its periphery. The article notes that the Institute for Planning and Development (IPR) has similar goals for the city’s development. Finep’s spokesman David Jirušek says the city currently has 610,000 apartments but is counting on the number rising to 700,000 by 2030. “Along with the transformation of brownfields, the constructin of highrises is an ideal way of expanding the apartment stock,” he says. “The city can’t constantly expand to its neighboring districts because then it’s unable to offer the services, and comforts of city living to its own residents and visitors.” Providing additional statistics, he says the number of people in Prague as of 2015 was 25 people per hectare and that this should rise to 29 per hectare by 2030. “That’s a level that’s still very low. For example, it’s 47 per hectare in Munich and 45 in Vienna. In Barcelona there’s actually 158 people per hectare. The higher the concentration of residents the lower the expenses for the running and maintenance of the city.”
