Zoning is no longer enough; the plan protects the character of local areas

Prague’s current zoning plan is based on an idea that took hold a century ago. When urban planners in the 1930s advocated dividing the city into zones for work, housing, and recreation, they began marking out differently colored areas on the plans. At that time, industry was represented by smokestack factories, and this strategy provided housing or space for sports for many people. However, moving between zones burdens the city with traffic. Moreover, this simple division gradually ceased to be sufficient, and today you’ll find over 90 types of zones on the blueprints. Navigating the plan is very complicated and no longer helps us feel at home in the city.

According to the current plan, building is also complicated. Small projects, such as setting up a practice in a doctor’s villa, required a revision of the entire plan. Today, specific plots are designated for planned playgrounds or kindergartens in new neighborhoods. When a project evolves over several years of preparation, it is difficult to adjust the shape of a park or sports field, and the function cannot be moved to another location. The proposed Metropolitan Plan aims to change this and primarily focuses on how the city should look in a given location. It still specifies the necessary size of schools or parks to ensure they are easily accessible in new neighborhoods. However, it does not necessarily designate specific plots of land where public facilities should be located.

Tens of thousands of comments helped refine the draft plan

The Prague City Council decided to adopt a new zoning plan as early as June 2012, and IPR Prague published the first draft in 2018. This was followed by a public comment period, during which nearly 46,000 comments were received in the first round. City officials reviewed them in collaboration with IPR and presented an updated version at a public hearing in 2022. Discussions on the plan continued; another 18,000 suggestions were received via the Prague Resident Portal (Portál Pražana), and a nearly final version of the plan was presented in the fall of 2025. Since then, the document has undergone only minor changes, such as adjustments to the names of certain locations.

During the lengthy preparation process, new transportation plans were incorporated into the plan. The drawings have changed significantly, for example in the Letňany area, where construction is planned around the upcoming Prague-North high-speed rail terminal. A new rail connection under the center of Prague has also been added, and the routing of new metro lines has been adjusted, such as extending Line D to Náměstí Republiky. The drawings now include a land reserve for Line E through Michle and Vršovice. The areas around the Písnice Depot have been rezoned from industrial to residential. The future metro terminal will not only serve as a transfer point for trips to the city center but will also become a local hub.

However, from the very first version, the proposal also had to respond to how the city itself changed during the preparation process, and with it, the existing zoning plan. It incorporates changes that have already been successfully launched in Prague, such as at the Žižkov freight station. Prior to the second public hearing, the text of the plan was also refined to clarify how to assess interventions in individual building structures. All changes were presented in comparison diagrams and text differences to make it as clear as possible how the proposal had been modified. The final version of the Metropolitan Plan also significantly strengthens the role of planning agreements, which must be concluded before construction begins on 47% of the transformation and development areas. This will provide the city with a clear guarantee that developers will build public amenities or contribute financial resources to the city.

The approved plan will take effect on September 1, 2026

CAMP has reported on the progress of the Metropolitan Plan’s preparation on numerous occasions. It was the focus of the exhibition That’s the Plan! and subsequently the Public Preview in the White Hall, which presented its final form. You can watch recordings of a series of meetings and debates on the website. Additionally, the ground floor of the Prager's Cubes served as a venue for public hearings and training sessions on how to submit comments. In addition, all materials were available in print at the CAMP premises, which also served as a space for individual questions answered by experts. The Metropolitan Plan was then introduced at a number of locations in Prague via an info point in a mobile container.

Over the years of consultation and discussion, it gained broad support across the political spectrum at the city hall level as well as among city districts. “I see the Metropolitan Plan primarily as a public service, in which more than 200 experts joined me—people who have dedicated themselves to this project for several years, and whom I thank, as well as everyone who supported it today and is willing to develop Prague together with us. Today, people are watching the intensive development in Smíchov; now, thanks to the Metropolitan Plan, they will see such high-quality construction in other locations as well, where comprehensive new neighborhoods with parks, schools, and vibrant streetscapes will emerge,” says Petr Hlaváček, Deputy Mayor of the City of Prague for Spatial and Strategic Development.

The Metropolitan Plan was approved by the City Council and will take effect on September 1, 2026. If Prague had not agreed on the new plan, the current rules would have ceased to apply at the end of 2028. The new Building Act, in fact, eliminates the possibility of using older zoning plans. While we may complain today about the inflexibility of the zoning plan, a legal vacuum would mean even greater uncertainty and chaos, which could completely halt construction in Prague.