Pavel Hnilička: New Prague OTPP

A new office for urban and building standards was established this spring at the Office for the Development of the Capital City of Prague, which is responsible for preparing amendments to the Prague OTPP (Regulation No. 26/1999 Coll. on general technical requirements for construction in the capital city of Prague). This regulation significantly shapes the image of the city and deserves a revision, especially in light of the development of urban settlement, which has changed substantially over the past decade. For the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population lives in cities and suburbs. In developed countries in Western Europe, the urban population approaches 80%. Cities must be able to absorb these demands while creating a quality urban environment and simultaneously addressing the ever-increasing pressures on land and depletable energy resources.

Building regulations are directly related to other documents that govern construction methods. Due to the interconnectedness with urban and regulatory planning, the Deputy Mayor for Urban Development, Mr. Tomáš Hudeček (TOP 09), initiated the creation of a new office right where the urban plan for Prague is being developed. The regulation of city construction must be established conceptually. Current considerations about the city are not the goal of the effort but merely a tool to achieve the goal – which is a healthily developing city. Developed metropolises very often do not have binding urban plans. Cities follow them, but no legal claims arise from them for individual builders. These claims appear only in a more detailed and precise form in regulatory plans, where relationships in the area are clearly outlined. This, understandably, eliminates room for corruption. The Vienna building code, for example, regulates construction requirements in general terms, unless the regulatory plan (i.e., zoning plan – Bebauungsplan) states otherwise.

The proposed work program for the new OTPP initially consists of analyzing the existing situation and collecting experiences from advanced cities in Western Europe, which Prague can compete with to a certain extent. An analysis of legal amendments from cities such as Vienna, Zurich, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Munich, or Berlin will provide valuable insights on how to adjust the general technical requirements for construction so that the capital city of Prague can enhance its qualities and standing in Europe. Employees of the Office for the Development of the Capital City of Prague have started to gather examples from project practice regarding individual provisions of the existing regulation and are gradually visiting building offices in all city districts to familiarize themselves with the concrete implementation of the current regulation and to gather suggestions for its improvement. By the end of summer, the analytical phase will be concluded. A substantive draft of the text will be prepared in the spring of 2013, when its discussion will begin.