Survey: The Metropolitan Plan Will Not Be Completed, Thinks Prague Politicians

Prague - According to Prague politicians, officials, and developers, the Metropolitan Plan will not be completed by the legal deadline in 2022 and may never be finished at all. This and other findings come from a survey conducted by the law firm Vilímková Dudák & Partners in cooperation with the magazine Euro. Participants included representatives of developers and architects, heads of building authorities and urban development departments, Prague councilors, and mayors of all city districts. The questions focused on the construction situation in the metropolis.

The survey reveals that only 15 percent of mayors and 37 percent of city councilors believe that the city will manage to draft a new Prague zoning plan by the legal deadline, that is, by the end of 2022. And 35 percent of mayors and about 20 percent of councilors think that the Metropolitan Plan will never be completed. Similar distrust prevails among officials and representatives of development companies.

"We found no one who is satisfied with the current situation," said Petr Novotný, a partner at Vilímková Dudák & Partners, regarding the survey. According to him, there was a larger disparity between respondents from different groups regarding the question about the current building permitting system. Most representatives of the surveyed groups rated it as overly complicated and lengthy, with the exception of mayors and heads of urban development departments, of whom only half expressed dissatisfaction.

More than two-thirds of respondents identified the building permitting process as the reason for the housing shortage in Prague. Group participants also agreed that one reason for the lengthy permitting is the involvement of environmental and other interest groups. Officials also pointed out that insufficient project readiness from developers contributes to the situation, while all surveyed architects complained about the approach of officials. Most Prague councilors see the problem in poor legislation and propose a solution in a new building law, which developers would also prefer.

The survey also touched on other topics related to Prague’s construction. Representatives of local governments and developers, for example, agreed that private investors should contribute to the construction of public infrastructure for their projects. This could involve parks, schools, or public squares.

The Metropolitan Plan was prepared by the City Institute for Planning and Development (IPR) and recently submitted its proposal to the city hall. Prague now faces several years of discussion during which citizens, companies, or city districts can submit comments on the proposal. It is unclear how many comments will be received; during the discussion of the current plan, which came into effect in 2000, there were reportedly 16,000 according to IPR. The number of comments will determine the time it takes to process. The plan is expected to take effect in 2023. It was originally supposed to come into effect in 2020, but lawmakers ultimately extended the deadline by three years.