Prague of the future. Will Praguers go directly to the airport? The exhibition shows the possible changes of the city
Congress Center, OCA Barcelona Architects Photo:
Photo: Institute of Planning and Development m of Prague
In the coming years, Prague plans to fundamentally change the form of the capital or its parts. There have been many years of debate about, for example, the photo of improved transport services – the construction of a railway or metro at Ruzyně Airport or the planned exhibition line of metro D. One of the long-term priorities is Prague’s bridges, which are critical in many cases. The winner of 80 buildings or well-known reconstructions is now on display at the Prague Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP).
In addition to projects revitalizing the square or the backbone of the city with individual exhibitions, the selection was the responsibility of the architect Adam Gebrian of the backbone, especially for the construction of new apartments and apartment complexes. The lack of flats in particular is a long-term problem of the capital, the Prague coalition plans to address, among other things, an analysis of land on which urban apartment buildings could grow, according to housing councilor Adam Zábranský.
One of the expected projects is the revitalization of the square in the city center, for example, the project of transforming Charles Square attracts attention. “We tried to emphasize those places that have been idle for a long time and already need some change,” IPR director Ondřej Boháč told Czech Television about the way projects were selected. “Our goal is to make the square more pleasant, so that people would rather go there than today,” said Ondřej Boháč, adding that the basic layout of the square should remain the same. “We are now in the phase when the competition is over, the approval of the project documentation and technical negotiations will follow,” the director of the institute added to the expected project implementation.
One of the long-term problems of Prague is also the transport to Ruzyně Airport. Unlike many other European airports, this does not yet have a transport connection to the city center – people traveling by public transport still have to travel to the nearest metro station by bus. One of the intended and currently most probable solutions is the construction of a railway corridor, which should connect Kladno, the center of Prague and, above all, the largest Czech airport by 2028.
A new study on Vltava
Prague has long been concerned with other issues as well. During the last year, the state of emergency of a number of backbone bridges in the city became apparent. The Technical Administration of Roads issued a report in March on construction bridges that are in poor condition. TSK ranked the category into seven levels, with the fifth category already indicating poor condition. There are about dozens of bridges that are longer than a hundred meters. In the sixth category there are twenty such bridges. The collapse of the Troja footbridge at the beginning of last year drew attention to the problems with the condition of the bridges. During the year, the Libeň Bridge and the bridge at the Vltavská metro station were partially closed due to the state of emergency. There, the city is planning major changes in connection with the repair.
“It would be wrong to re-preserve the entire space by restoring the status quo. Vltava needs a new solution that will restore ordinary urban living space, in which I will not be forced to overcome an ingenious system or subways. The traffic problem should be solved by a quick temporary solution. At the same time, we will continue the project preparation of the final solution, which will include the Philharmonic building and its anteroom, “Petr Hlaváček (TOP 09), former director of the Institute of Planning and Development in Prague, told Echo24 earlier.
IPR is also preparing an urban study for the change in the vicinity of the Vltava Bridge. The study is to be completed in the spring and will serve as a basis for the process of approving the planned development of the area. The study will not be binding when making decisions during future construction. “If the building authority does not want to decide in accordance with the study, it will have to duly justify it,” said IPR spokesman Marek Vácha at the beginning of January. Already in December, the city approved the elaboration of the project documentation of the Dvorecký Bridge, we wrote more here.
The exhibition entitled “Prague Tomorrow?” Will be available at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning for the next three months. 76 selected projects will be presented on the 25-meter projects: apartment buildings, new public spaces or buildings important for the development of railways and tram transport.