“We will probably start solving the sector plans in 2014,” Hudeček told the E15 newspaper. However, plans should not be created for all 57 city districts, including the reduction currently being prepared by the city management. “There might be ten of them. Even sectoral plans can be created in one building in the city center, not in city districts, they should be the main actor,” added Hudeček.
However, his vision has a big question mark: according to what will the authorities decide on the permission to build specific projects until the sectoral plans are ready? The metropolitan plan will be much more general than the current one.

“It will be less detailed in scale. You will see where the development areas are, where the green part of Prague is,” Hudeček describes. The master plan will not define in detail what types of buildings can grow on the land, but will mainly focus on delineating the site with high-rise buildings and traffic. “I don’t think it’s completely wrong if the sector plan is missing for some time,” Hudeček claims.

If, for example, Pankrác is designated for high-rise construction, without a sectoral plan it will be difficult to prevent the construction of high-rise buildings even in the part where there are now only low-rise apartments or family houses. Similarly, a children’s playground in the middle of a building could disappear in high resolution. “I do not know. I don’t dare to say in advance what the solution will be,” admits Hudeček. Similar to what his predecessors declared, Hudeček also wants to facilitate construction in large development areas. The municipal joint-stock company Rozvojové projekty Praha is to take over the initiative, which will arrange an agreement between investors, city districts and citizens. “Her project directors will be responsible for specific projects. It works in England, they revitalized beautiful brownfields there,” assures Hudeček.

Sensitive areas of the spatial plan of the capital city of Prague

Masaryk station

The development in the central location is being prepared by the companies Penta, Sudop and Morávka Centrum with České Drahi as the land owner

Girls’ castles

the original plan was to be a university campus for Charles University, to which residential construction was added

Smíchovské nádraží

they are planning a commercial project in the 67-hectare location of České dráhy with the Sekyra Group, or possibly another investor

Scattered

one of the last significant city-wide changes, the company Passerinvest mainly wants to build offices and apartment buildings

Triple limit

includes 96 hectares, which, in addition to the capital, are also owned by developers Central Group, Finep, Orco or the PPF group

Žižkov Station

the fifty-hectare area where Discovery Group and Sekyra Group want to build is to become a new center including high-rise buildings

Drums

Orco and Prominecon want to build a new commercial and residential district with a university campus on 66 hectares

I sent away the system of collecting burning fees from investors, says Prague councilor Tomáš Hudeček

The new Prague Councilor for Territorial Development Tomáš Hudeček (TOP 09) claims that he has two recipes for dealing with corruption in the promotion of development projects: a metropolitan spatial plan and a negotiation process under the banner of one joint-stock company of the city.

Tomáš HudecekAuthor: E15 Michael Tomes

* E15: In the metropolitan plan, there are to be only four possible land uses, compared to the current 28. Which ones will they be?

Landscape, recreation, residential and production functions. With the fact that, for example, the residential function will automatically enable uses with a lower load, i.e. landscape and recreation.

* E15: Mixed commercial and residential areas are now common. Will you fall under production use?

You are asking about the details that will be specified in the spatial plan entry. This no longer falls under the function of the councilor, but of the creator of the spatial plan. I could imagine it that way though. The spatial plan should define the functional use on the one hand, and the structure on the other. It shows where high-rise buildings can be built, where roads lead. The spatial plan should place more emphasis on this.

* E15: How do you protect unstoppable territories?

In an unstoppable territory, it will simply not be possible to make a change.

* E15: You want to prioritize large development areas within one joint-stock company of the city Rozvojové projekty Praha. How?

Take the example of Trojmezí. All land should be poured into the joint-stock company, an investor, district, city, civic association should come there. Everyone “arranges” and the result will be that the investor will build the project, the citizens will be satisfied because he will build a park, the city district will be satisfied because he will receive a contribution to social amenities. For this, they will arrange a zoning decision. If there is an unbuildable area where a forest is needed, I assume that no one will build anything there, and if so, it will be everyone’s will.

* E15: But the scope for corruption does not disappear…

It is not true. If everyone agrees, the investor guarantees the construction and, based on the agreement, gives the city money for, for example, a kindergarten, the citizens will keep the park, that’s a hell of a difference. Hello, how are you today? An investor will come who wants to build. Let’s not say it’s wrong. In order for him to build, I have to get a zoning change. And therein lies the problem. He pays for the change, or someone pays for it to go through, even if it could be trouble-free. An additional burning fee must be paid by the investor for the zoning decision. And then he learns that he won’t get a stamp from the environment. It applies the third, fourth, fifth time. I sent this system away.

* E15: Let’s go back to Trojmezi. The land there is already owned by private investors, not just the city.

Either the land is put into the joint-stock company, or an agreement can be made that the land belongs to the investor, but the joint-stock company disposes of it in some way. You are asking the councilor who is supposed to set the concept. And it is clear: the development of important territories must take place in this way. How it will look for a specific project will be a matter for the project director in that joint-stock company. Specifically, in Trojmezi, there is no other option to create consensus. Citizens cannot access the land because the owner has fenced it off, investors cannot build because they lack permits. The city is scolded by the investor on the one hand, and the citizens on the other. Civic associations are shouting in all directions. Of course, the joint-stock company will have to take into account that part of Trojmezi is already owned by Orco, part by PPF, part by the city. But I, as a politician, will not solve a specific area, I have to set up a system. Now it doesn’t work at all.

* E15: You promote greater use of brownfields. Your predecessors already took advantage of that. Developers are often not interested in them because they do not want to invest in removing environmental burdens.

But it is in the interest of the city that the investor goes to the brownfield and not to the forest.

* E15: How do you do it?

The city should clean up the area as part of the joint-stock company and prepare the land for the arrival of the investor.

* E15: In what way will you clean the land that is owned by a private entity?

The land will be bought. But that’s a property councillor’s business.

* E15: And does Prague have money in the budget to buy the territory?

When you buy a piece of land, evaluate it and sell it to an investor, you don’t make a profit.

* E15: So you’re going to buy up brownfields?

I am not a councilor for property. But it’s logical, they do it that way in London, in Western countries. If the city doesn’t want a brownfield, then I have to do something with that area. And if you’re asking me if there’s money for it, there certainly isn’t.

* E15: How do you see the future of the Department of Development of the Capital City of Prague (URM), which is a contributory organization and developer of the spatial plan? Its new director last year announced changes that have not yet taken place.

The city needs an institution full of architects for its decision-making. However, URM today often functions as a cover for avoiding responsibility. The spatial planning department or the construction department has to decide. But they will ask the URM where a group of people who have no responsibility will issue an opinion. In other words: the one who does not have responsibility decides, and the one who has responsibility covers himself with the opinion of experts, which was created on political order. URM is needed, it manages geographic data for example, but it will have to go through a transformation.