At their recent session, the Prague councillors agreed to the amendment of the zoning master plan concerning the space of railway tracks of the Main Railway Station. The possibility of construction in this important city location has not been defined at all so far. With this step, the city is planning to retain full control over future construction.
The master plan of Prague lists the land of the rail yard only as a "white spot on the map", there are no parameters for possible future construction. Until now, the master plan was based on the assumption that construction above the railway track is technically impossible. But that no longer applies in the 21st century. New construction is being built above the tracks and in their proximity in many European and world capitals. The possibility of building above the railway tracks has been discussed at the professional level for several decades, comprehensive studies were created by architect Karel Prager, and in the recent past by a team led by Jakub Cigler at the initiative of IPR Prague. It is a strategic area in the centre of the city. For many decades it has been an obstacle to the city's development and free movement between Prague 1, 2 and 3, and architects have also been puzzling over it.
This is changing now by the initiative of CR-City a.s., which holds the rights to any future construction. It is a joint venture of Czech Railways, SUDOP Group and Penta Real Estate. The initiative has already passed in April (without major objections) by the committee for territorial development of the city and last week by the City Council, this week by the City Parliament. Now other municipal departments will be involved, a steering group will probably be created for all issues surrounding the development of the territory. In the time of 6 – 12 months, it will probably be headed for an assignment for a large international urban planning competition.
"There is a consensus among all the main parties, including the capital city of Prague or the Ministry of Transport, that this important location cannot remain just a white spot on the map. It is necessary to carefully consider and coordinate all the interests concerning this area, the capacity of railway transport, facilities and services for passengers, connections to the new metro, city highway and better connection of Prague 1, 2 and 3," says Rudolf Vacek, Development Director at Penta Real Estate.
For Penta Real Estate, this is not the first such dialogue with the city and other important players, it has already completed two large and successful urban planning competitions, for the Florence area and to complete Vítězné náměstí in Prague 6.
