The global metropolis of Prague. What do Prague’s multicultural districts look like and why do foreigners like housing estates?
The Arrival City project was established in 2015 in Germany, where a large number of migrants began to arrive at that time. At that time, the idea arose to find out how the influx of foreigners is changing German cities and how migration is the shape of public space. was an exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and a year later its authors decided to explore what such incoming cities look like elsewhere in the world. Prague has also become one of the selected “Incoming Cities”.
In recent decades, Prague has been a global metropolis that absorbs visitors from all over the world. Currently, about 15% of the population with non-Czech citizenship lives here and its number is still rising. Unlike other metropolises, Prague is characterized by the fact that a large proportion of immigrants come from the countries of the former Soviet Union and other post-socialist republics. And newcomers are largely settling mainly in housing estates.
“We have concentrated our research in the area of Hůrka, Nové Butovice and Lužiny, ie in the area of the south-western town, where the percentage of the population with Czech citizenship is only among the highest,” says Marie Heřmanová. According to the 2011 census, it was about 28% of the population, about half of whom are Russians. In some micro-districts, the number climbs to 40%. “The local name of one of the local suburbs is even Brighton Beach after the Russian immigrant district in New York,” adds the fun fact Lehečka.
It is difficult to determine the exact numbers in similar surveys, because many people, who define themselves as Russians or Belarusians, for example, have lived in Prague for a long time and already have Czech citizenship. “During the research, we also came across a person who has a Belarusian passport, but considers himself a Russian,” explains Lehečka. “Another respondent had one parent from Croatia, the other from Serbia, has a Croatian passport, but defines himself as a Bosnian Serb,” adds the anthropologist.
Also read
However, other nationalities and ethnic groups also have popular districts in Prague. Americans and other migrants from Anglo-Saxon countries prefer Dejvice and Prague 6 in general, a large number of Ukrainians live in the Letňany housing estate, the Vietnamese minority has settled mostly in the south and southeast, from Modřany to Jižní Město and partly in Černý Most. About 20% of foreigners live in this housing estate, but ethnic diversity is the highest of all neighborhoods. “And it is also visible in public spaces, often much more than, for example, in Butovice, where there are more foreigners in general,” says Lehečka.
Mainly middle-class families of productive age move to the southwestern city under study. “Most of these people come from cities, especially from housing estates, of which there are even more in many post-Soviet countries than in our country, so they are used to this area,” says Lehečka, one of the reasons why housing estates are so popular among newcomers from the East. Another factor is, of course, the lower prices of local apartments. Rising real estate prices in Prague, but this reason will probably not play such a role. “In interviews, respondents often stated that they especially value the high quality of life in housing estates – good accessibility to the center, plenty of playground accessories or a lot of greenery,” says Heřmanová. “Their perception of housing estates thus does not coincide with the often negative stereotypes that Czechs have about housing estates,” adds the anthropologist.
“In Prague, the number of settlers decreases by about 9,000 people a year, the population is then supplemented by people from other countries.” Where do the original inhabitants of housing estates disappear and why? How does ethnic diversity manifest itself in public space and what is the relationship between newcomers and old settlers? Listen to the entire interview in the audio version of Spot magazine.