The city as a sandwich: About the urban ecology of Prague with Martina Kaňáková
What is your position in Prague 6?
Since 2018, I have been the elected representative of the city district and I also hold the role of chairwoman of the Environment Commission. I was offered the position of chairman of the commission after the resignation of the current chairman. Mayor Ondřej Kolář subsequently offered me this offer and I accepted it with great humility. It was a big challenge for me, also because in the previous election period the chairman of the commission was prof. RNDr. Jakub Hruška, CSc., Who is a highly respected expert in ecology working mainly at the Academy of Sciences (AKČR). Given his expertise, I couldn’t compete with him. I decided my position in a slightly different spirit. I am a person focused on fulfilling specific projects. This is how I approached my role as President of the Environment Commission. The things they promote within this body are based on this.
When did you first become interested in environmental issues?
It must be said that I am the type of person who spends all possible time off in the mountains. Such an urban mountaineer. Nature charges me. I like that peace and freedom. However, I became intensely interested in the topic of ecology in connection with the protection of the Amazon rainforest. As part of my project – the Latin American Mercury Festival – I sought to bring the world to the public about saving the Amazon rainforest. We even managed to make a charity fundraiser. The money was for the purchase of land in the Ecuadorian Amazon, because land purchases are one of the most effective options for its protection. We collaborated on this collection together with the non-profit organization Forest Inc.
How did you get into politics?
I studied Ibero-American Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. In short, it is a historical field focused on the Latin American region. During my studies, I also founded the Merkádo festival. For its possible implementation, I negotiated support at the level of political representatives of the city districts. This brought me closer to the environment of communal politics. However, the main reason was the political situation, Babiš’s entry into government. A lot around me was cursing, but none of them were active. I decided to be active. I applied for TOP 09 and it was. I wanted to change things, not just talk about them.
Tell us about Prague 6’s approach to ecology…
It is said that within the whole of Prague, Šestka is an example for other city districts. He has a strong political spirit. In fact, most major political names grew to six (for example, Mayor Pavel Bém, he was a six mayor). In addition, the area of Prague 6 is relatively large, the population is the same as Hradec Králové. It also has the largest share of greenery in the city districts. There are huge areas: Divoká Šárka, Hvězda game reserve, etc. Prague 6 is simply a green part of the city, where there is room for the implementation of a number of projects.
What projects are currently underway?
As part of the plan to adapt Prague to climate change, Prague 6 was chosen as the place where it will implement various innovative projects. Whether it is the installation of air pollution meters or an emotional map, which was created by a team of experts under the Academy of Sciences. The aim of the emotional map was to determine where and why the so-called heat islands form. This served as an indicator of what places we focus on in our work.
For planting trees?
Planting trees is certainly one way to cool that “heat island”. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Under the sidewalks leading the engineering network, ie a lot of cables and pipes that provide water, electricity, gas, etc. In order for a tree to be planted in these places, the network would have to be relocated. This is an expense for the municipality in the order of hundreds of thousands of crowns. We have to be such that the city is basically a “sandwich”. There are buildings upstairs, in the middle of sidewalks and roads, and below all that are the nets. And that’s why we have to think about how to get the greenery into the city streets differently. We are inspired, for example, by Singapore with its vertical greenery.
How does it work in the context of the Czech environment?
Each city is very specific, Prague with its own monument protection. However, the projects that I think could be transferred to our environment do not have to be complicated. For example, Singapore uses street lighting for landscaping. Or such green walls. In cooperation with the University of Agriculture, for example, we have implemented a project that uses our national plant, hops. The characteristic of hops is that it processes preparations and is 80% more resistant than other plants. We managed to build the first green hop wall on Dejvický kulaťák. The project has been running for two years. We constantly collect and compare data. For example, we already know we need to do higher. We consult everything with the university. We consider this project to be very successful. They have already called us from other cities, for example from Pilsen. It has a good response.
And what about the street lamps? What project is this?
This is a project still in its infancy, but I am working on it again with the city company Technologie hl. m of Prague, Pražská energetika and partly also the University of Agriculture. This is the development and implementation of a structure around which climbing plants resistant to the urban environment will wrap. The construction looks like such a standing paraple. You will get greenery to the city, you will allow the street and in the summer it will provide shade. This project is therefore ecological, aesthetic and will provide better civic amenities.
What about asphalt?
Asphalt is not ideal. It contributes to the formation of heat islands and groundwater heating. That is why we are gradually replacing asphalt with permeable paving. We are doing relatively well at Šestka.
I anticipate that we will face up to three degrees of global warming. How is Prague preparing for this prediction?
Prague has 57 city districts. We follow a climate plan that covers the capital city of Prague. It was released last year. It is a great strategic document, but like any strategic document, it is very general. At the September council, I initiated the creation of a working group focused on climate issues in Prague 6. Its goal is to specify the projects arising from the climate plan and with the financial participation of the capital is feasible. This is best determined by experts. The commission consists of, for example, prof. RNDr. Jakub Hruška, CSc., Doc. Ing. Bohumil Šťastný, Ph.D. from CTU, former deputy Ing. Dana Balcarová. There are experts in energy as well as electromobility.
Which project is the most popular with the public so far?
We have such a tiny composting project out there that is coming out of the world again. Composting is great at eliminating waste and supporting the circular economy. In cooperation with the Kokoza organizations, we took three large wooden three-compartment boxes, intended for about fifty households, selected three places and installed these composters there. Those who were interested could become part of composting communities. They have chosen a composter manager from their ranks and they are now taking care of it successfully. The project is so successful that we would need another five composters.
Which international cities are your inspiration?
Singapore, London but especially Copenhagen. There I would like to study urban ecology. They are first in energy. They have a friendly economy. I basically do only small projects against them.
We talked about ecological projects at the local level. What do you think is a nationwide destination?
Water. We see that Barcelona, London and other major cities do not have sufficient water supplies. Of course, we are not so bad at it, but it is necessary to start thinking about this issue in our country as well.
Groundwater is simply declining everywhere. Of course, the political representation is thinking about these topics. I have already mentioned asphalt. It’s cheap, but it doesn’t let go. It must be replaced with permeable tiles. We need to introduce more retention tanks. We also waste drinking water. Do you know that we even flush out the west? We even water the greenery with drinking water. Why can we use water from the Vltava, for example. This is complete nonsense…
What will Prague be like in 2050?
We will deal with the issue of energy resources a lot. Prague will be greener. We will focus more on cooling the heat islands. The city will be full of solar panels and we will focus more on electromobility. We are already preparing a huge project where chargers for electric cars will become part of street lamps. I have a positive attitude towards the future. I think it will be good but it will cost a lot of work.
Martina Kaňáková (1990 *) comes from Vinohrady in Prague, she studied Ibero-American Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. Within the field, he is dedicated to the Merkádo festival, which promotes Latin American culture. In 2017, she entered TOP 09. Since 2018, she has been a representative of the city district of Prague 6. She holds the contribution of the chairwoman of the environmental commission. He works as an assistant to the councilor of the capital. Within our scope, we focus on projects in cooperation with scientific institutions, universities, non-profit organizations. In addition to politics, he focuses mainly on sports, often fleeing to the mountains for sports (skialp, cross-country skiing, trekking, gravel). Within its scope, it launched projects: community composters on the sixth, hop wall on Kulaťák, creation of a working group for the climate of Prague 6, etc.