For recreation and against floods. Prague has announced a competition for the design of a new park
“One of the most important city-wide parks will be created, which will certainly bring great added value in relation to the speech,” said the name for territorial development Petr Hlaváček (TOP 09). The territory of Rohan Island was a riverbed until the first half of the last century, which was later buried. The newly created areas are used for industrial and storage purposes.
The selection procedure will take the form of a so-called competitive dialogue, in which the competitors meet in workshops with representatives of municipal institutions or landowners. We are looking for a team consisting of landscape architects, architects or urban planners and water management engineers, who are working on both the project of the new park and the overall concept of the transformation of the Rohan and Libeň islands. It is a 56-hectare area from the Hlávek Bridge to the area north of the Libeň Bridge.
The park should be gradually established over the next eight years. It is related to the creation of a new branch of the river, which will be created on the site by digging up several meters of soil brought in over the last decades. The new flow channel, which will increase the capacity of the riverbed, is part of the capital’s flood strategy and has had a zoning decision since 2008.
“The current design of the park corresponds to the time of its creation, so it is necessary to implement it and design a new landscape project of the flood park on the river. He will restore the existence of the defunct island, although he will find it in another place, “added Hlaváček.
Sekyra Group is building a new district on Rohan Island, which plans to build about 3,200 apartments, eight office buildings and schools. The New Invalidovna project of the Trigema company and the Rustonka office complex of the developer J&T Real Estate are also being created.
“The city is developing at a record pace. However, residential construction will accompany green areas, while the importance of park zones and trees in the city is constantly increasing also due to climate change, “believes Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates). The Institute of Planning and Development is working on other green projects on the Vltava, such as the Trojská kotlina or Soutok projects.
The area will also be enlivened by a new footbridge, which the city is building between Holešovice and Karlín across the island of Štvanice. The Štvanická footbridge will cost almost 300 million crowns, and the reconstruction of both embankments is also a part of it. The city is also considering the construction of the so-called Rohan Bridge between Karlín and Holešovice, but has not yet decided on its construction. Hlávkův and Libeňský bridges are also to be repaired.
Rohan Island
- Rohan Island was once an Vltava island, today this part of Karlín is an island by name only. Rohanský bears the name of one of the owners – Josef Rohan, a burgher and carpenter who was its owner after 1850.
- The former island was formed from flood deposits. The largest extent of the island was from Těšnov to today’s Šaldova street.
- Around 1900, it was connected to the island of Jerusalem at the western end. In the 1920s, it was merged with the Libeň Island under extensive regulation of the Vltava riverbed. Both islands were also connected to the Karlin coast as the territory of Manin. The arm of the river, which used to be the port of Karlín, was buried in the 1950s.
- Rohan Island did not blossom into beauty. For many years it was basically a black dump, a periphery in the middle of the city. At the time of the construction of the metro, it served as a repository for excavation material. In 1999, extensive cleaning work began ahead of the planned revitalization area.
Source Institute of Planning and Development