International Newsletter of IPR Prague Issue 2

ISSUE N°2, June 2017

INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Dear reader,

It is with great pleasure that we present you with the second edition of the International Newsletter with updates from the Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague). As you will notice from a variety of news here below, the 2nd quarter of the year was a pretty busy period for us.

In this issue you can find a brand new rubric "What actually does ... section/office?". This time, the Participation Office of IPR Prague will present itself. You will also hear for the first time about the Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP) that should be open at our premises in September.

We wish you a good read and welcome your feedback!

The Team of International Agenda and EU-Projects, IPR Prague

IPR Prague to Open a New Centre for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP)

IPR Prague preps final touches before opening the new Center of Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP). The centre will offer an exhibition hall with an unique large-screen projection facilities, a study room, a cafeteria, an outdoor terrace and an indoor amphitheatre. Rich programme will include public debates, appearances by local and foreign experts, workshops, screenings and other activities.

The centre is expected to open in September this year.

Click here to discover more about CAMP.

Awakening of Lesser Town Square as a Public Space

The Lesser Town Square (Malostranské náměstí) was one of the most neglected, though one of the most important public spaces in Prague. But this has changed. IPR Prague has turned the former parking lot into a lively place by introducing its project "Prague Chairs and Tables" there and by coordinating cultural activities on this square.

Click here to read more about the Lesser Town Squre.

Charles Square Revitalization

The Charles Square is the largest square in Prague and one of the largest in Europe. However its current state does not at all correspond to its importance. The City of Prague together with the City Borough Prague 2 concluded a memorandum in 2010 in which they declare their mutual interest in closely cooperating on the revitalization.

The process is currently in its second phase which will involve the revitalization of the park within the square. The design and implementation team will be selected during the course of 2017 through the international design competition.

Click here to read more.

Magistrála for People: Humanising Road Infrastructure with Gehl Architects

In October 2016, Prague signed a cooperation agreement with the Danish company, Gehl Architects. Its task will be to propose a way to adapt Prague´s north-south trunk road. The company´s executive director, architect Henriette Vamberg, came in March to Prague. She talked about how to transform a congested urban artery into a more friendly environment in the city.

On Tuesday 27 June Mrs. Vamberg together with her colleague Mrs. Reigstad presented recommendations proposed by the Gehl Architects to the public. An audience of 400 people attented the event with more viewers joining via livestream.

Click here to watch the video of Mrs. Vamberg´s presentation on "Cities for People" on our youtube channel.
Click here to learn more about the project of Magistrála transformation.

Looking for Maps and Data on Prague? Check out our Geoportal and the Updated Planning Analytical Materials!

Geoportál Praha website integrates all Prague based applications, geographical data information and the most important projects in the field of spatial information. The portal also offers opendata free of charge and is partly available in English language.

The Planning Analytical Materials (ÚAP) of the City of Prague is a unique, regularly updated source of information about Prague from various points of view: urban development, transportation, technical infrastructure, land use, clean environment, environmental protection, the economy, etc. The document us updated regularly every two years. The 2016 version was approved by the City Assembly on June 15th.

Click here to access our Geoportál.
Click here to view the document (in Czech) and here to access the app.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE JANUARY?

FEBRUARY

We hosted the INSPIRE group and shared especially our knowledge about geoinformation and urban development with the visitors.

MARCH

IPR Prague represented the City of Prague on the real estate exhibition MIPIM 2017 in Cannes.

Two workshops took place in February and March in Bucharest where IPR Prague´s representatives were invited by the Romanian Order of Architects to talk about Prague´s approach to urban governance. You can watch the first workshop here.

APRIL

At the end of April we hosted the 7th Steering Committee Meeting of the TRIANGULUM H2020 project. Participants discussed the latest developments, the progress of work packages and future steps. Additionally the group visited the University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) of the Czech Technical University in Buštěhrad.

MAY

Delegation from Prague including Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Petra Kolínská, went for a study visit to Copenhagen. The visit included a meeting with Tiny Saaby, the Chief City Architect, site visits to Nordhaven and Nørreport, a bike ride and a workshop on Magistrála at the Gehl Architect studio.

IPR Prague participated in the 2nd International Conference on National Urban Policy held at the OECD premises in Paris. The Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC) meeting followed on the conference. As a part of this RDPC meeting, Prague and Amsterdam reports on the topic of governance of land use were presented. Prague report should be published in September. You can already read the Amsterdam report here.

SPIMA project on the spatial dynamics and strategic planning in metropolitan areas hold its interim meeting. The event was hosted by the Prague House in Brussels.

JUNE

Another reSITE Conference on cities was succesfully organised in Prague. Listen The Urbanist podcast on Monocle to hear more!

The French Embassy organised a conference on the future of railway stations in France and the Czech Republic. The day before the conference IPR Prague organised site-visits for Mr. Missika, showing him around Prague brownfields Smíchov and Žižkov freight railway station.

WHAT ACTUALLY DOES THE PARTICIPATION OFFICE?

Talking to our Participation Specialist, Ms. Pavla Pelčíková

"The Participation Office of IPR Prague was created at the beginning of 2015. Initially, we focused on involving local communities in the public space revitalization projects. At the same time, we wrote a Public Participation Manual, which is intended to help local municipalities and other institutions of the city that are responsible for participation processes within various projects. We have also designed participatory processes for projects of revitalization of a housing estate and in a large brownfield site at Smíchov.

Currently we are also raising awareness about the CityMakers phenomenon and discussing the support of the city for these bottom-up initiatives in Prague. In March 2017 IPR Prague organised a conference (Don´t) Speak with us, with the aim to open a critical discussion about participation in Prague and beyond and help the city to further imporve processes of participation. Among the speakers were also two foreign guests, Mrs. Birgitta Hölstrom who is responsible for public participation of Stockholm Master Plan, and Mrs. Victoria Loprieno who shared her experience with community management of the Berlin-Marzahn housing estate."

Click here to access the presentations and video of the conference. (mostly in Czech, two presentations in English)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Bombing of Prague in 1944-1945

In 2015 unique aerial photos of the Second World War were offered to IPR Prague, on which basis an orthophoto map was made. Besides the appearance of Prague during the war, the photos allow to clearly identify the consequences of the bombing, anti-aircraft and other defense equipment (post-raid protection, trenches) water tank fire and a number of other elements.

To commemorate these incidents IPR Prague complied an application "Nálety na Prahu 1944 - 1945" (Bombing of Prague in 1944-1945) which brings the individual areas and buildings affected by the bombing along with the period photographs and description of the history of the sites. Prague became the target of air bombardements three times at the end of the Second World War. More than 1,200 people were killed by the devastating bombs.

Click here to access the application.

How to Design a Fair Shared City?

Predominately city planning follows strategies which help the healthy and economically active part of our society. But who considers the needs of the population younger than 18, elderly people and other diverse user groups of the city? The publication "How to design a fair shared city" illustrates in eight stories different daily situations, in which people of our society are confronted with barriers in the city. The aim of the publication is to make everyone aware of these problems, which can be prohibited though consideration of these needs in city planning.

The project was initiated and developed from the initiative Woman Public Space Prague (WPS Prague), which is a non-political network for women, toghether with the Heinrich Boll Fundation Prague.

Click here to read more about the project.

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