New Era of Urbanism in Ostrava - Public Debate

The Institute for Politics and Society would like to invite you to a public debate "A New Era of Urbanism in Ostrava", which we are organizing in cooperation with the Statutory City of Ostrava on Thursday, June 14, 2018, at 16:30 at the Brick House in Vítkovice. The debate includes panels "Ostrava as a Smart City" (16:30-17:45) and "Architectural and Cultural Development of Ostrava" (18:00-19:30), featuring participants such as the Mayor of Ostrava Tomáš Macura, Director of the Public Transport Company Daniel Morys, Tomáš Hudeček from the Department of Urban Engineering at VŠB, and others. We would be very pleased if you would join this interesting debate with the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers in the beautiful spaces of the Brick House in Vítkovice.

The phrase 'black Ostrava' has recently begun to lose its significance, as one of the most industrial cities in Central Europe has, to the surprise of its citizens and visitors, started to significantly change its image. The change for the better is evident, yet there is always room for improvement, and it is certainly not surprising that there is a considerable number of civic initiatives in the city striving to enhance the living standards of Ostrava residents. Their priorities include improving the environment, revitalizing abandoned buildings, organizing significant cultural events, and reducing the exodus of young people from Ostrava to other cities in the Czech Republic.
What lies behind the surprisingly rapid transformation of Ostrava? Is the current pace of successful implementations sufficient, or could more be done? Is it within the city's power to deepen cooperation between politicians, officials, and active citizens? Can further development prevent the exodus of young people to other regions of the country?
You may think this does not concern you, but almost everyone has at some point critiqued air quality or the construction of certain modern buildings in the city. Urbanism should therefore interest each of us, and we should not be indifferent to the direction of the new urban plan and the development of public space in Ostrava.

Program:
16:30 – 16:35: Opening words by Tomáš Macura, Mayor of the Statutory City of Ostrava
16:35 – 17:45: Ostrava as a Smart City

Speakers:
Daniel Morys, Chairman of the Board, Public Transport Company Ostrava
Lubomír Fridrich, Coordinator of Bikesharing in Ostrava, Rekola
Marie Zezůlková, Director, National Center for Energy Savings
Tomáš Hudeček, Department of Urban Engineering, VŠB-TU Ostrava

18:00 – 19:30: Architectural and Cultural Development of Ostrava

Speakers:
Tomáš Macura, Mayor of the Statutory City of Ostrava
Marek Piętoň, Founder of the Facebook Group 'Unforgotten Ostrava'
Igor Krčmář, Department of Architecture, VŠB-TU Ostrava
Zuzana Vinklárková, Coordinator of the Refill OVA project, Cooltour

The moderator of the debate is architect Ondřej Vysloužil.