The surroundings of Palmovka will change, Bohumil Hrabal Square is to be the new center of Prague 8
Designing changes, including the demise of the underused bus station, has not been easy. The area is “complicated” due to the large number of landowners, the subway tube below the surface and the nearby places of reverence associated with the tragic past of the Jewish nation.
“Thanks to a very sensitive solution, the new square will create a cultivated space for passengers, meetings and nooks for children’s activities. And all year round, which will be helped not only by the green roofs of trees, but also pleasant cafes in the building of the metro protection system and other roofed spaces, “said Jan Chabr, councilor for municipal property (United Forces, TOP 09).
Also according to Prague 8 Councilor for Strategic Development Tomáš Hřebík (United Forces for Prague 8 / STAN), the interventions on Palmovka will make it possible to create a 21st century square and a key public space. “In the foreseeable future, Palmovka will turn into a very lucrative district, which will be incomparable compared to today’s situation,” Hřebík said.
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The project of the new Hrabal Square was prepared by architects from the Jednotka studio. They solved the technical application with a metro tube by drawing smaller elements in the drawings instead of larger green areas, including “green” shelters, which will cool the area or use rainwater effectively. They also dealt with the puzzle how to symbolically recall the personality after whom the square is named. The famous Libeň writer will not have a statue on the future promenade, but it will be reminded of small installations, inconspicuous reminders and also an emerging book with texts from twelve leading Czech novelists based on the motifs of Bohumil Hrabal as a Libeň “old settler”.
“Prague has a number of districts that have risen. I will mention Karlín or Žižkov. And Palmovka has even more potential in this regard. It is a city-wide important transport hub with a specific identity, with which even that legacy of Bohumil Hrabal will connect, “said Filip Tittl from the Unit studio.
The future face of Hrabal Square influenced extensive participation and the general public. The final project was preceded by a two-week workshop, hundreds to thousands of civic complaints, hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with Praguers about the needs of the locality.
Proposals of the inhabitants themselves
“The appearance of the square is based mainly on the proposals of the residents themselves. We will say goodbye to the individual who is now occupying Palmovka and create a pleasant place for local locals. The square will finally look the way it deserves, not like the space you are afraid to walk through in the evening, “commented Petr Pelc, Palmovka NOW project coordinator and local representative for the United Forces for Prague 8 / TOP 09, commented on the plan for the transformation of Palmovka.” Palmovka supports the already implemented partial modifications, I still suffer from the ‘broken window’ syndrome. Palmovka NOW pulling efforts to motivate the public to reach out to her ‘in’. The clear goal is to ‘heal’ this place, “Pelc added.
Not only Palmovka, but also other “transport hubs” in Prague 8 (Florenc, Kobylisy, Ládví), the local town hall is trying to have more control. More frequent “preventive” actions of the Czech Police focus on individuals with a criminal history or suspects in drug distribution. According to Mayor Ondřej Gros, the visible presence of police officers is a basic precondition for eliminating undesirable social phenomena.
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“Our appeal to the capital to increase the number of uniformed police officers on the streets still persists. I consider the visible presence of police officers in problem areas to be a key form of prevention and improvement of the security situation. Last but not least, the presence of uniformed law enforcement officers to a greater sense of security for our citizens, “Gros emphasized.
The new Hrabal Square is supposed to be just the beginning of the transformation of a wider area from the Libeň Bridge to Zenklova Street. In November, the municipality approved an investment of 26 million crowns in the construction of a three-meter wide and lighted pedestrian path connecting Švábky and Zenklova. From the beginning of the following summer, an abbreviation should be created from Palmovka to Invalidovna or Rohanské nábřeží, intersecting an extensive brownfield, on the site of which a city boulevard surrounded by 280 city rental flats, a park, etc. will be created in the coming years.
Due to these plans, several changes to the zoning plan are currently being prepared. And the Prague 8 City Council has also recently accepted the handover of the torsion of the planned city district headquarters. The so-called The new Palmovka, for which the city district has already paid Metrostav hundreds of millions of crowns for unrealized tasks on the basis of the original contract, could become the new seat of the European Space Agency.