The Magistrála road divides opinions in Prague almost as much as it divides the city. The challenge for planners is how to integrate it into the urban fabric. Ultimately, no solution can be finalized until the outer ring road is completed. Still, plans to build bike lanes and sidewalks are already on the drawing board. The very first step, however, will be to build something both revolutionary and simple: a crosswalk in front of the Main Train Station. Some people fear it will cause traffic jams, forgetting that just last year, a crosswalk appeared at Muzeum. This one is more controversial for some people, who say there’s “nothing” there. The urbanistic argument is that you create locations by giving people access to space — by putting pedestrians and cars on an even footing. I’m looking forward to see if this crosswalk can create something from “nothing”.
The planning crisis is really an absence of leadership
Anyone who’s been involved in the Czech development process for more than a week will know the agony of the planning...