Metropolitan Plan of the Capital City of Prague
The current zoning plan for the capital city was created in 1999 and is set to expire in 2022. Therefore, a new plan has been under development for six years — the Metropolitan Plan of the Capital City of Prague, which will come into effect on January 1, 2023.
The preparation of the new metropolitan plan involves several government bodies and is influenced by urban planners, conservationists, architects, politicians, and the general public. Citizens were able to submit comments on the proposal until June 26. The main author of the metropolitan plan is Ing. arch. Roman Koucký, who, together with his colleagues from the Office of Metropolitan Development, will incorporate feedback in the coming years.
Compared to the existing zoning plan, the new metropolitan plan aims to be simpler and more transparent. Prague will be divided into over 700 localities, each classified into one of 13 types of developable areas and one of four land-use categories — residential, recreational, productive, or natural.
Brownfields
It is no secret that Prague faces a shortage of available housing. Developers have land and projects ready, but they are slowed down by lengthy municipal permitting processes — resulting in historically high residential property prices. Therefore, one of the main topics of the metropolitan plan is the redevelopment of brownfields — previously developed but currently unused sites that once served industrial or agricultural purposes.
Under the metropolitan plan, revitalization of brownfields could be accelerated by removing the requirement for additional zoning studies, significantly streamlining the approval process. However, developers could be required to include public amenities, such as a city park or kindergarten, alongside new housing projects.
The most controversial proposal so far has been the potential redevelopment of the park near Štefánik Bridge into a building site, where the city planned to construct the Golden Egg Gallery. However, this proposal was rejected at the end of last year.
Recently, urban planners have criticized the metropolitan plan for its lack of clarity. One issue is that areas defined as development zones include multiple land parcels divided by percentage between public and private uses (such as civic amenities or public spaces) — but without specifying exact boundaries. In cases of co-ownership, this ambiguity could lead to conflicts over which owners develop residential buildings and which are left with public space obligations.