Criticism is mounting against Prague’s new metropolitan plan which paves the way for new highrise development across the capital. If the City Assembly approves the new plan, the changes would take effect by 2020.
“Instead of seeking to suppress the construction of highrise buildings in Prague, the plan offers 14 new localities directly designated for such construction. The plan also confirms some [previously launched] disputable projects, and it even targets localities in the city’s central panorama,” the Club for Old Prague wrote in a statement.
Petra Kolinska, Prague’s deputy mayor for urban development, has voiced concerns that the plan does not have adequate limits for new builds. “He who proposes the building of skyscrapers should tell how they contribute to the quality of life and the protection of the values offered by Prague, and how the city would cope with the increased burden, mainly in terms of transport,” Kolinska told the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
Petr Hlavacek, the director of the Institute of Planning and Development, which prepared the plan, said critics are misinterpreting the proposed changes. “At present, highrise buildings can mushroom randomly, no complex regulation of such construction exists. The metropolitan plan is the first document to introduce regulation for the whole area of Prague. The construction of higher than 12-story buildings…will be banned on 99.4 percent of Prague’s area,” Hlavacek told CTK.
