Faster construction or even more confusion? The Prague Metropolitan Plan goes to the finals
While at the national level the eyes of developers are fixed on the new building law, in the case of Prague development, a new Metropolitan Plan may be even more fundamental to replace the current obsolete 1999 zoning plan. June plan to comment. It could come into force in 2023 at the earliest.
The city’s zoning plan is a regulation that determines how the city will be used in the next ten to twenty years. That is, where construction is allowed and where it is not allowed, where a park is to be created, where a new road will lead, where schools, kindergartens, hospitals are to be located and how much the form of each part of the city is to change.
According to the ideas of the city management Metropolitan plan among other things, it will fundamentally help with the development of Prague, and developers should also benefit from it. “The metropolitan plan simplifies processes and is more flexible than the current rigid zoning plan. Developers will be able to build sooner, which will clearly help the city’s economy and development, “says Petr Hlaváček, Prague’s deputy mayor for territorial development.
Compared to the current zoning plan, the Metropolitan Plan is to bring several fundamental changes. For example, around tram lines or subway stations, it proposes denser construction and adds capacity.
“The metropolitan plan will ensure more efficient and economical use of the city and a development plan that will enable more flats in suitable places. Newly, it works with the ceiling of height regulation or requirements for the structure, character and uniqueness of the locality, which in turn places more emphasis on the quality of the architecture, ”explains Hlaváček.
Another significant change is the unblocking of construction on brownfields and other areas where it would be ideal to build houses, but the current zoning plan does not allow it. instead of wherever investors are planning to build, the zoning plan must now change, which is a lengthy and expensive process.
“We are relatively close to the new plan. Now, for all the major localities and revitalizations of brownfields that cities are supposed to help, we have to go through a long-term cycle of changes to the zoning plan. The current one is incredibly rigid, and everything requires a very complex process that stretches and is politicized. They have a zoning plan that has been waiting for ten or fifteen years, although there is a social consensus on them, “says the owner of Central Group Dušan Kunovský.
Currently, the city is working on about seven hundred changes to the zoning plan. The metropolitan plan already has five hundred of them incorporated, which can mean a significant acceleration of the entire permitting process for landowners.
But it doesn’t have to be just about construction. The Corinthia Hotel in Vyšehrad is an example of the rigidity and excessive detail of the current zoning plan. It is listed in the zoning plan as a complex for short-term accommodation. The owner of the hotel, IHI Towers, would like to turn part of the building into classic flats, but has been waiting for eight years to change the zoning plan.
The very principle of the plan, which would not work in such great detail, but would be more flexible, is one of the fundamental changes that Prague wants to achieve. After all, most developers also welcome the Metropolitan Plan, despite some allegations.
“It is a very important document for the conceptual planning of the future city, which we have been missing a bit lately. From a practical point of view, we perceive the support of revitalization and stopping of brownfields as very positive. In our opinion, building inside the city, especially in places of unused, dilapidated industrial areas, is the right way to go, ”says Marcel Soural, owner of the Trigema investment group.
Evžen Korec, the owner and CEO of Ekospol, has a similar opinion. According to him, the Metropolitan Plan can contribute to faster permitting and enable the construction of development areas, which Prague urgently needs to stop.
“The amount of land for housing proposed in the new zoning plan is significant, but I think the zoning plan could have allowed housing construction to an even greater extent. The only large-scale construction of large residential projects with thousands can lead to a reduction in their price and improved housing affordability, ”adds Korec.
However, according to Penta Real Estate CEO Petr Palička, one of the shortcomings of the plan is that it does not allow the use of the development area as it deserves.
“These are not just high-rise buildings that Prague simply will not have, but the limit of six floors in many places goes directly against the years-long opinion of experts that the city should condense and not expand beyond its borders,” says Palička.
The municipality opposes that, in the end, thanks to the increased capacities in the Metropolitan Plan, the developer has the opportunity to achieve a larger volume of buildings than if he were building a tall, slender tower. And in some places, such as Hloubětín or Vysočany, the plan also works with the so-called tower level, which allows for tall buildings.
Developers also mention a certain ambiguity in the Metropolitan Plan. However, according to the municipality, it is only apparent and it is only necessary to get used to the new rules with which it works.
The owner of the UDI Group development group, Radek Menšík, is significantly critical of the planned plan. According to him, there will be no acceleration of permitting.
“In addition, the fact that the new Metropolitan Plan is based on a completely different principle than ever before is likely to cause chaos after its approval, which will stop construction, including much-needed housing, for many years and thus make it impossible to solve the housing crisis in the main city, ”I think Menšík.
Kunovský also has some concerns in this regard. “I’m afraid of a vacuum where the city and the state will argue. As was the case with the Prague Building Regulations, when we had to redesign the project documentation, which is a cost that tens of millions of crowns, “he says.
And it is precisely between the city and the state that there is a real risk of conflict. Prague is currently complicated by the preparation of the Metropolitan Plan.
The Ministry of Regional Development is preparing an amendment to the Decree on Spatial Analytical Data, which aims to unify data for spatial planning across the Czech Republic. This goes completely against the idea of Prague and the currently prepared Metropolitan Plan, which would have to be completely redesigned.
According to the Ministry’s plans, the National Spatial Planning Geoportal is to collect uniformly structured data on the territory. But the proposal also talks about using a single graphic legend for all cities.
According to the management of Prague, this would have devastating consequences for all large cities. Prague would have to go back many years in preparing the Metropolitan Plan and, moreover, could not change its current zoning plan for current construction, including the construction of metro D or the Vltava Philharmonic. Therefore, Prague submitted comments on the draft ministerial decree and the Ministry of Regional Development will now deal with them.
You can see the upcoming Metropolitan Plan of Prague as part of the exhibition “This is the Plan!” At the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP) on Charles Square in Prague. Visitors can not only get acquainted with the basic principles of the plan, but they can also comment on the spot.
“We have been trying to bring urban planning to the widest possible public for a long time, and the Metropolitan Plan is one of the most important documents for the development of our capital. We are planning an accompanying program of discussions, which sets out in detail, including the key topics of the plan and how it has changed since 2018, ”adds Ondřej Boháč, director of the Institute of Planning and Development.