The following is a translated excerpt from the Facebook page of Pavel Dobeš, deputy mayor of Prague 3. He’s been heavily involved in getting the necessary planning changes made that would allow for the redevelopment of the defunct cargo station in his district. These changes have been underway for nearly two decades. What I find interesting about the post is that it shows how where early attempts to spark development went wrong: by abdicating its guiding role in the planning system and leaving it all up to developers. You can read his whole post on FB here.
17 years. That’s how long this 71-hectare area has been deteriorating and not fulfilling its original purpose.
17 years. That’s how long it took to reach today, when I presented four crucial planning contracts to the Prague 3 District Council with four investors who want to develop housing in this area. And the council approved these contracts! 🎉
Now for the main point. What’s the result of approving the contracts❓
Primarily, the developers Central Group, Penta Real Estate, Sekyra Group, MY Park, and Finep will invest nearly CZK 1.4 billion in the area’s public amenities!💰 This contribution will either be in the form of non-financial fulfillment, where one developer will build a new kindergarten with 6 classrooms, another developer will build a large public park 🌳. Others will contribute through financial fulfilment, where a developer will contribute more than CZK 400 million for the construction of a new primary school, etc.
You might be wondering, quite logically, why did it all take so long❓
Well, there are several reasons. One of the main ones is that after 2002, when the freight station operation was terminated 🚂, the land plots in this area were sold off gradually. As a result, six different developers are now the primary land owners. And of course, Czech Railways owned the site’s historic building and surrounding land until the end of 2024. By contrast, the city controlled very little land in the zone, a fact which significantly weakened its negotiating position 😞
Another problem was that separate negotiations and planning took place for each part of the brownfield. This approach was not successful. There was even a risk that thanks to this approach, this new city district for 20,000 people would be created without sufficient capacity for schools, kindergartens, social and health services, parks, greenery, and transport services.
