Ústí nad Labem will have a city architect

Ústí nad Labem - Ústí nad Labem will have a chief architect after many years. The city council hopes that this person will come up with their own vision for the regional city, find new purposes for selected locations, and help define conditions for builders. The architect will be an employee of a new development department, which will be formed by merging three current departments. Councilor Pavel Dlouhý told reporters today.
     The city's leadership has been criticized in the past by both professionals and laypeople for its approach to urbanism. Several petitions were created to prevent the construction of selected buildings. "I am glad that there will be a personality here who will help us in this regard," said Dlouhý.
     The chief architect will be an employee of the office, but does not have to work full-time. "We want to find someone significant with insight and vision for how the city will develop," the councilor stated. "For example, they could help us revive the institute of architectural competitions, which could be used for the city center, but they would also monitor details, such as the construction of a two-meter-high fence in new neighborhoods or smurf-blue plaster on apartment buildings," added Dlouhý.
     Architect Matěj Páral, who is among other things one of the creators of the website www.usti-aussig.net, dedicated to architecture in Ústí nad Labem, told ČTK that the city's step is a significant move forward. "It is certainly a major change in attitude towards what is being created in the city, but it could be a double-edged sword; if we manage to select an interesting personality, then it's good, or conversely, it could be very bad," he stated.
     The city will announce a selection procedure for the position as well as for the head of the newly created development department. By merging the investment, strategic development, and land use planning departments, the office will save five job positions and two to three million crowns annually. "The reasons for the merger are primarily practical, since the volume of investments is decreasing and funding titles are ending; besides, there have been problems in these areas, and people have criticized things like the processing of the land use plan," said Dlouhý.
     In 2010, the volume of investments was 840 million crowns, in the following year it dropped to 256 million crowns, and this year it is at 53 million crowns. According to Mayor Vít Mandík, it is likely that the volume of investments will continue to decline. He reminded that the city also has to deal with a debt of 1.6 billion crowns.