Prague 9 has published a survey on the development of the location at the O2 arena, where it wants a new square
Until the end of the year, the inhabitants of Prague 9 can, in a survey prepared for them by the city district, comment on, among other things, what they think should be on the planned Emil Kolben Square.
The management of the town hall is considering the creation of a new Vysočany center in the area between Českomoravská, Freyova, Ocelářská and Lucemburská streets instead of the currently unused production halls, said the mayor of Prague 9 Tomáš Portlík (ODS). Architects from the Qarta architecture studio have so far proposed the creation of apartment buildings with about 3,500 apartments and the creation of a new school on plots of 181,014 square meters, with roughly half of the planned square area being undeveloped. In the survey, the citizens of Prague 9 can now support, for example, the construction of a museum, community center, center for modern fine arts and the like.
According to the designers, the new square should be the dominant element of the new district with apartment buildings and office buildings. These are already being set up near the O2 Arena. For example, Syner is now building a ten-story building with offices in the former parking lot next to the Backstage.
Prague 9 wants to participate in the creation of the new district itself, so it plans to buy land from one of the current landowners, Howden ČKD Compressors. Brownfields currently own six firefighters and several private individuals. The town hall wants to negotiate with the landowners to follow the prepared urban study in the future use of the area, which is to become the basis for the change of the zoning plan.
The newly created square should be named after the factory owner Emil Kolben, whose legacy and industrial tradition Vysočany Prague wants to build on. Kolben founded a factory in Vysočany in 1896, after which the industry continued to develop. Among other things, ČKD factories, Avia and Areo aircraft factories or Odkolek mills and bakeries opened in Vysočany. After the Second World War, the Elektročas factory, for example, was established in this district. According to the town hall, industrial production in Vysočany declined in the 1990s. Since then, many production areas are falling into disrepair, others have been demolished and a new, mostly residential development has grown in their place.
The survey is now available at web Prague 9 and the FB district. People can also fill in a printed survey form and submit it in person at the information centers in Prague 9 or send it by post to the town hall.
Prague 9, which has about 58,050 inhabitants, consists of the cadastral area of Prosek and parts of the cadastral areas of Vysočany, Hrdlořez, Střížkov, Hloubětín, Libno and Malešice.