The fields were replaced by blocks of flats. Aerial photographs show Prague in 1953 and today
Two Pragues. The new web application compares the same places photographed in 1953 and 2013 on two maps at the same time
| photo: Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague
The new map application is available on the web dveprahy.cz. Thanks to a pair of aerial photographs, people have the opportunity to compare the same place six decades apart.
“The application allows you to intuitively find places that have undergone more dramatic changes. For example, people have the opportunity to compare what traditional industrial districts such as Smíchov or Vysočany looked like. Director of the IPR Spatial Information Section Jiří Čtyroký.
According to IPR spokesman Marek Vácha, the year 1953 is the first time when aerial photographs of the entire territory of Prague were taken, the previous photographing of some parts of the metropolis was found in 1938.
According to Vácha, one of the developers of IPR got the idea for a similar map application and, out of interest, started creating it at home. “Then, when the project tried to meet, this thing arose, which went out,” Vácha smiled.
In the future, the application is expected to be expanded with maps from the 1960s and 1970s. In this way, people will be able to compare, for example, the zoning plan from the 1950s and the zoning plan that applies today.
Aerial photographs of Prague from several periods (including the pre-war year 1938) can also be viewed here, the application on the website of the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic is also very successful here.