The exhibition “Prague Tomorrow? Prague's Priorities” that introduces 25 construction projects which will significantly change the face of Prague in the next twenty years invites you for a trip in the future. The exhibition is interactive, enabling visitors to get directly involved, and maps the 5 basic categories of the capital's building development, namely new neighborhoods, new transport links, new opportunities, new squares and streets, and new parks. Each category is represented by 5 specific projects.
In addition to large construction projects, such as metro D, the Prague ring road, the revitalization of Charles Square or the construction of the Vltava Philharmonic, the exhibition also shows lesser-known changes that future Prague will bring.
One of the expected changes is the Railway Promenade in Prague 10. The reconstruction of the abandoned line connecting Vršovice and Strašnice will create a nice city park, which will resemble the New York High Line.
The rampart promenade located on the border of the Old and New Town will bring better connections and conditions for pedestrians, cyclists or public transport on one of Prague's oldest promenades.
The new connection is represented by the Dvorecký Bridge, which will span the Vltava in the section between the Zlíchov and Podolské embankments, thus connecting Smíchov and Pankrác. What's more, the bridge is designed as a sculpture. The architects, in collaboration with the artist Krištof Kintera, anticipate the realization of a work of art in the form of a multifunctional cubist landscape and a botanical garden of street lighting.
In addition to large brownfields such as Bubny-Zátory or Smíchov City, the development areas include, for example, the lesser-known new Bohdalec-Slatiny district, bordered by railways and the body of the Municipal Ring Road, which should turn into a pleasant place to live in the future.
"I consider the overall improvement of the quality of life in Prague to be a priority. I think that the biggest problem in Prague is the crisis of housing affordability. Therefore, I see the opening of the largest brownfield, i.e. Bubny-Zátory, as a fundamental topic of the city's development,"
Everyone can get involved in the search for Prague's priorities. The visitors can vote on the highest priority or design their own priority project, which they lacked on the curatorial list.
"The absolute priority is to improve the availability of housing in Prague. To do this, we need to begin with the transformation of brownfields, of which we have several in Prague, but they have been lying idle for many decades. However, we cannot rely solely on the market to solve the problem. Today, almost no one can afford to buy apartments at market prices. It is also necessary to address legislative changes, such as the allocation of 15 or 20% of new development for the affordable housing fund and so on."
The exhibition was prepared by the capital city of Prague and Prague Institute of Planning and Development. It starts on 23 September and will run until 20 December 2020 in the premises of the Prague Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP) and on Mariánské náměstí, where the projects are presented in the form of a panel exhibition.