Liberec has an area study for the so-called Paper Square, now waiting for comments

Liberec - Nearly three billion crowns will be required to transform the neglected location known as Papírové náměstí in the lower center of Liberec into a creative and residential district, which the city hall is pursuing. This is indicated by the land-use study developed for the city by the studio re:architekti. However, as the authors of the study themselves stated, this is a rough estimate of investments over a long-term horizon of 50 years, and the city hall should participate in about a third of these. People can send comments on the developed study until January 2, said Jiří Janďourek (Mayors for the Liberec Region), the deputy mayor, to ČTK.

"If the comments make sense to us, in relation to the area and the content of what we want this area to have, we will gladly incorporate them," said the deputy mayor.

The area between Soukenné náměstí and the elementary school on Barvířská Street is one of the most neglected places in the center of the hundred-thousand-inhabitant city, although some buildings have been renovated here in recent years. There are about 20 different owners of the lands in this area, with the city owning the most. It owns approximately 10,000 square meters.

According to Janďourek, the goal is to completely build this area, which would triple the population density in this region. "It should be about 300 people per hectare," stated the deputy mayor. According to him, it still holds that they want to maintain the genius loci of this area, which also applies to the buildings, which should be a maximum of four stories high. "This means there are no high-rise buildings there," said Janďourek. The emphasis in the study, according to him, is also placed on so-called blue-green infrastructure, including water management, and it is still planned that the main parking lots for this location will be on its outskirts. One parking structure should be built near the Billa store, and the second underground under the former factory known as Linserka. Their capacity should be up to 800 spaces.

According to the study, there should also be eight public spaces in this area. One of them should be a new park created by revitalizing the urban terraces above Papírové náměstí from the side of Sokolovské náměstí. The transformation, according to the study, also awaits Papírové náměstí, which is currently a parking lot. Newly, it should serve for cultural and other events.