International Newsletter of IPR Prague Issue 3

ISSUE N°3, December 2017

INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Dear friends,

We are pleased to publish the third edition of the IPR International Newsletter. IPR has had a busy few months, and we are especially proud to report the opening of our new Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP)! Please come visit this beautiful, interactive space, as we have an action-packed program of exhibits, screenings, public debates, appearances by local and foreign experts, workshops, and other activities in store over the coming months. In addition, we are proud of IPR's geodata department, which received ESRI's Special Achievement in GIS Award for their excellent visualization of the Metropolitan Plan.

As always, our newsletter contains a review of our acitvities over the past few months, as well as an overview of upcoming events. Also in this issue, our Territorial Office will tell you more about what they do.

And finally, we would like to wish you a joyous holiday season and a happy and successful new year. We thank you for your interest in Prague’s planning projects and for your fruitful collaboration with us in 2017, and we look forward to continued cooperation with you in 2018 on both new and ongoing initiatives.

Best wishes,
The EU and International Affairs Team, IPR Prague

CAMP is inaugurated! Prague's future is "projected" in new, state-of-the-art information centre

IPR's new Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) is officially open to the public! The city´s new information centre is equipped with unique projection technology and a 25-meter screen that makes it possible to show the future appearance of streets at a scale of 1:1.

The rich program planned for CAMP includes exhibits, screenings, public debates, appearances by local and foreign experts, workshops, and other activities.

Click here to discover more about CAMP and here to learn more about its opening. Come down and see the current exhibit, "Smíchov City; from rail station to new neighborhood", which will help you understand the exciting plans for this burgeoning section of Prague.

CAMP opening times: 9:00am - 9:00pm from Tuesday to Sunday
Entrance: Free of charge
Location: Vyšehradská 51, 12800 Prague

IPR receives international prize for its work with geographical data

IPR Prague received a Special Achievement in GIS Award (SAG 2017) from ESRI, the worldwide expert in spatial analytics. IPR Prague was among a select group of winners that stood out from over 300,000 elegible candidates.

IPR Prague picked up the SAG award for its innovative application of technology, data collection, spatial data visualization and pioneering work with GIS in the field of urban planning. Congratulations to our geodata department!

You can find more about the the visualisation of the Metropolitan Plan and about IPR's winning entry on the ESRI webpage.

A Sustainable Mobility Plan for Prague and its suburbs

There are currently 150,000 people commuting into Prague and 25,000 commuting out of Prague for work each day. The City of Prague, together with the Central Bohemian Region, is working on a long-term strategy for transport planning to take the city through to the year 2030. To better meet Prague's current and future mobility needs, a new Sustainable Mobility Plan will replace the Transport Policy Principles that were approved in 1996.

The aim of the new mobilty plan is to help improve the standard of living of commuters and the sustainability of transport, while considering Prague's future population growth and the environment. A working group of six institutions is currently working on the plan.

Click here or here if you want to learn more about the Sustainable Mobility Plan.

Photo: problem map for car traffic

Prague-Brussels workshop took place at IPR

In September, IPR Prague welcomed special guests from the Brussels planning agency, perspective.brussels. Mr. Cédric Verschooten, Transversal Department Director, Mr. Tom Sanders, Strategy Department Director, and Mr. Alfredo Corbalan, Manager of International, European and Interregional Projects came to Prague to engage in a knowledge-sharing exercise in urban governance and urban (re)development projects.

The workshop provided an opportunity to learn more about our respective institutions, their missions, and the urban development challenges that our cities are facing. Prague presented the Vybíralka project, which is innovative for its participatory approach to redevelopment. The representatives of Brussels were also introduced to the newly-opened Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning. They found the information centre very inspiring, and were impressed by IPR's communication strategy and the way we promote our work and the Institute.

From our side, IPR staff was deeply interested in the innovative approach of the Canal Plan project and its emphasis on interdisciplinary cooperation and transversal project management. This successful story of the revitalization of a deprived neighborhood is inspirational to us here in Prague.

OECD Prague launch event

On November 3rd, IPR Prague hosted an OECD launch event on the occasion of the publication of the report entitled, "The Governance of Land Use in the Czech Republic, the Case of Prague". The report examines land use and governance trends in Prague and the broader metropolitan area, including the formal elements of the planning system and broader governance arrangements such as rural-urban partnerships. It provides a number of valuable recommendations on how to make land use policies more flexible and more effective.

The aim of these recommendations is to ensure the sustainable development of regional transportation and infrastructure, affordable housing and quality public amenities. In addition to two OECD experts, Ms. Tamara Krawchenko and Mr. Abel Schumann, representatives from the Amsterdam Planning and Sustainability Department and the Israeli Planning Authority also took part in the workshop and shared their experience with the governance of land use, as well as their advice for Prague. The event was attended by more than 50 civil servants from the local, regional and state government, urbanists, developers, representatives of civic associations and the professional public.

Click here to see some of the presentations from the event and to watch short interviews with the OECD experts (scroll to the bottom of the webpage). If you would like to learn more about the OECD Governance of Land Use program, please click here.

VIDEOS

The Tale of Broadville and Narrowtown
A new people-based definition of cities and settlements

Have you every tried to compare your city with a foreign city and realized that the two nations' definitions of cities and settlements differ? Or have you tried to find comparable data for two cities based on the same definition but found that it's impossible?

If you've ever dealt with these issues, you'll be pleased to know that the European Union, in cooperation with the World Bank and OECD, has developed a global, people-based definition of cities and settlements. In the video lecture linked below, "The Tale of Broadville and Narrowtown" with Lewis Dijkstra from the European Commission, a new method referred to as the degree of urbanisation is explained. The goal of the method is to help to create a common, global definition of cities and settlements without the use of distorted urban indicators, by classifying municipalities based on their population share in three types of categories: 'cities' which have the majority of their population in an urban center; 'towns and suburbs' which have the majority of their population in an urban cluster, but are not cities; and 'rural areas'.

Click here to access the video.
Click here to learn more about the degree of urbanisation.

"Paris Reinvents Itself": Jean-Louis Missika, Deputy Mayor of Paris at reSITE

How will the sharing economy influence the use of public space, and will sharing prevail? Will it be possible to book an Airbnb in Paris in the future and what restrictions has the city adopted? What is Paris doing to help prevent gentrification? How does the city of Paris involve citizens in city planning, urban design and decision making?

Find all these answers and more in the 2017 reSITE In/visible City conference's keynote discussion with Jean-Louis Missika, Deputy Mayor of Paris, moderated by Linda Bartosovaat.

Click here to access the video.
Click here to access the website of reSITE.

WHAT ELSE HAS HAPPENED SINCE JULY?

Photo: Citymaker workshop in Amsterdam

AUGUST

The TRIANGULUM stakeholder workshop took place in Prague at the end of August/beginning of September. International and local stakeholders and experts discussed the topic of "Smart Home Care", which enables senior citizens to keep living safely in their own homes for longer. The workshop was conducted by IPR Prague, together with Prague's District 7 and experts from the University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB). The results will be taken into consideration in the feasability study for a pilot project on Smart Home Care. Click here to read more about the workshop.

SEPTEMBER

The SPIMA workshop and 3rd Steering Committee Meeting took place in Prague in September, in order to provide the research team with feedback on their final report on spatial dynamics and spatial planning in metropolitan areas. The research project, funded by the ESPON 2020 program, involves ten EUROCITIES members across Europe: Brno, Brussels, Lille, Lyon, Oslo, Prague, Terrassa, Torino, Vienna and Zurich. The conclusions of the report will be presented and discussed at the final conference organized by the City of Oslo, the lead partner, together with ESPON and EUROCITIES on February 6th, 2018 in the Norway House in Brussels. Read more here.

"Sharing gets you further" - that was the motto of this year's European Mobility Week, which IPR Prague took part in. The week began on September 16th and ended with the International Car Free Day on September 22nd. During the week, different solutions for clean, shared and intelligent mobility were presented, with the goal of encouraging both local politicians and citizens to consider sustainable systems of mobilty. Click here to read more about Prague's Mobilty Week.

OCTOBER
The team that led the revitalization of the Vybíralka housing estate in Černý Most, a project also known as "Vybíralka25", participated in the "Placemaking Week" conference in Amsterdam in October. Representatives from IPR presented on the benefits of participatory planning in the redevelopment of existing areas.

DECEMBER

In December, the City of Prague hosted a conference centered on its distinction as a World Heritage City, planned on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the city's inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list. IPR was one of the main organizers of the event, and our staff and guests led and participated in lively debates about the future of the historical core of the city as well as the effect of UNESCO World Heritage status on future development throughout Prague.

In December, IPR also announced the firms that were shortlisted for the Karlovo náměstí competition, and the project has progressed to the next stage. The shortlisted firms will participate in a series of workshops beginning in February 2018, and the winner is expected to be announced in the fall of 2018.

WHAT DOES THE TERRITORIAL OFFICE ACTUALLY DO?

Talking to our Territorial Specialist, Mr. Luboš Križan

"The Area Support Office is the department with the most staff members within IPR. One of its main activities is to represent the City of Prague in land use decision making, as mandated by the foundation charter of the Institute. Individual staff members act as so-called 'area guarantors', with each being responsible for a specific city district, and they liaise daily with its stakeholders. The task of urbanists and architects is to provide specialist consultancy in the preparation of construction projects in their district, to coordinate building development in line with the overall city strategies, and to defend the city's interests, such as those defined, for example, in the Land Use Plan, Strategic Plan, Prague Building Regulations, Prague Public Space Design Manual or others....This specialist supervision is provided not only in the case of preparing specific projects, but also where it comes to larger urbanistic visions, e.g. when preparing area studies for as-yet undeveloped brownfield sites.

Among other tasks performed by our office is the coordination of the Confluence project, which entails the development of an area next to the confluence of Vltava and Berounka rivers south of Prague. The goal of this project is to create a park on the outskirts of the city with a functional entity responsible for the enforcement of jointly-defined principles for the area's protection and development. Furthermore, our responsibilities include preparing changes to the current Land Use Plan and its methodological supervision, and drafting expert comments on EIA opinions or on the sale and rental of city-owned property. Last but not least, we also initiate conceptual terms of reference for the reconstruction of selected tram lines, streets and public spaces."

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 25, 2018: ESPON Workshop on Indicators for Integrated Territorial and Urban Development, Brussels

February 6, 2018: SPIMA final conference (see SPIMA text above), Brussels

February 28- March 2, 2018: Urban Futures conference, Vienna

We are also looking forward to welcoming a number of delegations of urban planners and architects from around the world as they come to IPR Prague in the spirit of international cooperation and mutual knowledge exchange.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Are Barcelona's superblocks a radical change to the neoliberal city?

The creation of "supermanzanas" (superblocks) in Barcelona is a hot topic of discussion in urban planning circles. The goal of the blocks is to create more public space, reduce traffic, and decrease air and noise pollution.

This interesting article from Perspecitvas Anómalas discusses the superblock's advantages and disadvantages, and whether they can actually accomplish their aims. Why not think creatively about reclaiming public space and using it to improve the city? Why has this strategy been so controversial? Read all about it and let us know your thoughts.

Source of photo: http://www.bcnecologia.net/sites/default/files/proyectos/pmu_angles.pdf

CONTACT US

Have any thoughts on this? Want to give us feedback or suggest improvements?

Please contact us at international@ipr.praha.eu.

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Prague Institute of Planning and Development · Vyšehradská 57 · Prague 12800 · Czech Republic

ISSUE N°3, December 2017