Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Towards ordinary quarters: the development of housing estates in Prague after transformation

  • Article
  • Published:
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to explain and understand contemporary spatial changes within housing estates in Prague with special attention to the role of public and private institutions. We argue that housing estates are undergoing considerable functional heterogenization and becoming integral parts of the city as a consequence of mix of commercial development, specific public policies and activities of local actors. We focus on two crucial aspects of the contemporary development of housing estates within the capital city of Prague: (i) the new functional differentiation of housing estates as a consequence of private activities and commercialization; (ii) the role of master planning and public policies on the level of both the city and self-governed city districts. Activities of commercial and public institutions are perceived as structuration processes enabled and restricted by the constraints of contemporary post-transformational city. Methodologically the paper is based on analyses of the content of planning documents and policies (Metropolitan Plan, Strategic plan of Prague and selected documents of the city districts) and statistical information sources that relate to three levels of spatial detail. A case study of the largest housing estate and a symbol of socialist housing in Czechia—Jižní Město—illustrates the impact of state and municipal policies and commercialization on the local level.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Source of data: Trigema (2019). Note: 1 + k means a one-room apartment with kitchen and so on. The numbers for Czechia do not include prices for Prague. Prices for Prague also include prices for the Prague 11 city district

Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Source: Google Earth (2020). Note: CP—Central Park, H—highway D1, M—metro stations, SC—Westfield Chodov shopping centre

Fig. 4

Source of data: Own terrain research; Prague 11 (2020). Note: The legend distinguishes between approved and rejected projects of proposed construction

Fig. 5

Source of data: IPD (2015). Note: Shopping centres in Chodov, Zličín and Černý Most are highlighted on the first map

Fig. 6

Source: Google Earth (2020)

Fig. 7

Source: IPD (2018). Note: The blue line symbolizes the future corridor of the tram route through the whole housing estate

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. While at the end of socialist period in 1991 the total number of people living in housing estates was 524.811 (43.2%) in 2011 census it was 540.091 (42.4%) in Prague.

  2. We perceive housing estates as the outcomes of socialist housing policy. They were built during the period 1945–1993 and exist in various forms and size (Fig. 2). Housing estates have specific regulation rules in the new master plan of Prague and are spatially delimited as “localities” of Modernist City (see below).

  3. Jižní Město was the original name of a newly built complex of housing estate and a counterpart of the Severní Město (Northern Town located in the northern part of Prague). From 1990 Praha-Jižní Město was the official name of the self-governing city district, now Prague 11. The terms Jižní Město and Prague 11 are used as synonyms in the text of the paper.

  4. This was thoroughly evaluated by Ouředníček et al. (2018). The comprehensive summary from comparative pan-European research is then offered by Hess et al. (2018).

  5. According to the last population census in 2011, only 5.5% of apartments were owned by the public sector, with 10.3% on housing estates (Ouředníček et al., 2018:351). This means that almost full privatization of housing stock has consequently created only limited potential to wide-spread marketization.

  6. Labelled “Z(06)”—see Fig. 7.

  7. Labelled “Z(07)”—see Fig. 7.

  8. Locality „553/ Sídliště Jižní Město I jih Z(07) 0 [S]—see Fig. 7.

  9. The fund was cancelled in 2015.

  10. Housing estates are important places of memory and sentiment for all those people who have ever lived in housing estates (Ouředníček et al., 2018). Many of them are among the residents of this new development and therefore, the addition of new housing cannot be taken as a micro-segregation trend.

References

  • Bernt, M., Colini, L., & Forste, D. (2017). Privatization, financialization and state restructuring in Eastern Germany: The case of Amsudpark. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 41(4), 555–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blažek, J., Hampl, M., & Sýkora, L. (1994). Administrative system and development of Prague. In M. Barlow, P. Dostál, & M. Hampl (Eds.), Development and Administration of Prague (pp. 73–87). Universiteit van Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Čada, K., Büchlerová, D., Korecká, Z., Samec, T., Ouředníček, M. & Kopecká, Z. (2015). Analýza sociálně vyloučených lokalit v ČR. GAC, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Prague.

  • Costa, R., & de Valk, H. (2018). Sprouted all around: The emergence and evolution of housing Estates in Brussels, Belgium. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 145–166). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chytilová, V. (1979). Panelstory aneb Jak se rodí sídliště. Film studio Barrandov, Prague.

  • Damurski, Ł, Pluta, J., Maier, K., & Andersen, H. T. (2019). Stakeholders in the local service centre: Who should be involved in the planning process? Insights from Poland, Czech Republic and Denmark. Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series, 43, 91–106. https://doi.org/10.2478/bog-2019-0006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dekker, K., & van Kempen, R. (2004). Large housing estates in Europe: Current situation and developments. Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie, 95(5), 570–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez, R., & Aalbers, M. B. (2016). Financialization and housing: Between globalization and Varieties of Capitalism. Competition & Change, 20(2), 71–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • French, S., Leyshon, A., & Wainwright, T. (2011). Financializing space, spacing financialization. Progress in Human Geography, 35(6), 798–819.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gentile, M. (2018). Three metals and the ‘post-socialist city’: Reclaiming the peripheries of urban knowledge. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 42(6), 1140–1151. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12552

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gentile, M., & Sjöberg, Ö. (2019). Neoliberalism(s) as a Guide to Post-Wall Urban Change: Explanation Out of the Blue? Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie, 111(2), 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society. Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hägerstrand, T. (1982). Diorama, path and project. Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie, 73(6), 323–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herfert, G., Neugebauer, C. S., & Smigiel, C. (2012). Living in residential satisfaction? Insights from large-scale housing estates in Central and Eastern Europe. Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie, 104(1), 57–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2012.00727.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, D., Tammaru, T., & van Ham, M. (2018). Lessons Learned from a Pan-European Study of Large Housing Estates: Origin, Trajectories of Change and Future Prospects. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 3–34). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hulse, K., & Reynolds, M. (2018). Investification: Financialisation of housing markets and persistence of suburban socio-economic disadvantage. Urban Studies, 55(8), 1655–1671.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Illík, J., & Ouředníček, M. (2007). Karlín and its changes in the context of post-socialist transformation of Prague. Geografie, 112(3), 292–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kährik, A., & Tammaru, T. (2010). Soviet prefabricated panel housing estates: Areas of continued social mix or decline? The Case of Tallinn. Housing Studies, 25(2), 201–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kovács, Z., Egedy, T., & Szabó, B. (2018). Persistence or Change: Divergent Trajectories of Large Housing Estates in Budapest, Hungary. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 191–214). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kovács, Z., & Herfert, G. (2012). Development pathways of large housing estates in post-socialist cities: An international comparison. Housing Studies, 27(3), 324–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leetmaa, K., Holvandus, J., Mägi, K., & Kährik, A. (2018). Population Shifts and Urban Policies in Housing Estates of Tallinn, Estonia. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 389–412). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lux, M., & Sunega, P. (2010). Interrelations between housing supply agents: The metropolitan housing market in Prague. Post-Communist Economies, 22(1), 99–117. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631370903525629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maier, K. (1998). Czech planning in transition: Assets and deficiencies. International Planning Studies, 3(3), 351–365. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563479808721719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maier, K. (2003). Sídliště: Problém a multikriteriální analýza jako součást přípravy k jeho řešení. Czech Sociological Review, 39(5), 653–666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcińczak, S., Musterd, S., van Ham, M., & Tammaru, T. (2016). Inequality and rising levels of socio-economic segregation: Lessons from pan-European comparative study. In T. Tammaru, S. Marcińczak, M. van Ham, & S. Musterd (Eds.), Socio-Economic Segregation in European Capital Cities: East Meets West (pp. 358–382). Abingdon/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marin, V., & Chelcea, L. (2018). The Many (Still) Functional Housing Estates of Bucharest, Romania: A Viable Housing Provider in Europe’s Densest Capital City. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 167–190). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Musil, J. (1985). Lidé a sídliště. Prague: Svoboda.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musil, J. (1991). The New Conceptions of Social Ecology. Czech Sociological Review, 27(1), 69–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musil, J. (2002). Urbanizace českých zemí a socialismus. In P. Horská, E. Maur, & J. Musil (Eds.), Zrod velkoměsta (pp. 237–297). Paseka, Praha: Urbanizace českých zemí a Evropa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nemeškal, J., Ouředníček, M., & Pospíšilová, L. (2020). Temporality of urban space: Daily rhythms of a typical week day in the Prague metropolitan area. Journal of Maps, 16(1), 30–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Němec, M. (2014). Domovní a bytový fond v detailu pražských městských částí z pohledu statistických ukazatelů [Housing and apartment stock in detail of Prague´s city parts from the perspective of statistical indicators]. Prague: Institute for Planning and Development.

  • Ouředníček, M. (2007). Differential suburban development in the Prague urban region. Geografiska Annaler, 89B(2), 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0467.2007.00243.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouředníček, M. (2016). The relevance of “Western” theoretical concepts for investigations of the margins of post-socialist cities: The case of Prague. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 57(4–5), 545–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouředníček, M., & Pospíšilová, L. (2016). Editorial: Urban dynamics and neighbourhood change in cities after transition. Czech Sociological Review, 52(6), 787–794.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouředníček, M., Pospíšilová, L., Špačková, P., Kopecká, Z., & Novák, J. (2016). The velvet and mild: Socio-spatial differentiation in Prague after transition. In T. Tammaru, S. Marcińczak, M. van Ham, & S. Musterd (Eds.), Socio-Economic Segregation in European Capital Cities: East Meets West (pp. 261–286). Abingdon/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouředníček, M., Špačková, P., & Pospíšilová, L. (2018). Long-term Development and Current Socio-Spatial Differentiation of Housing Estates in Prague, Czechia. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 339–359). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Park, R. E. (1915). The city: Suggestions for the investigation of human behavior in the city environment. The American Journal of Sociology, 20(5), 577–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plicka, I. (2014). The South Town of Prague. Habilitation lecture. Czech Technical University, Prague. Available online on: https://portal.cvut.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/HP2014-21-Plicka.pdf

  • Pred, A. (1984). Place as historically contingent process: Structuration and the time-geography of becoming places. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 74(2), 279–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Přidalová, I., & Ouředníček, M. (2017). The Role of foreign migration in the changing socio-spatial differentiation of Prague. Czech Sociological Review, 53(5), 659–692. https://doi.org/10.13060/00380288.2017.53.5.360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, P. (2001). Urban Ecology. In R. Paddison (Ed.), Handbook of Urban Studies (pp. 36–51). Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sjöberg, G. (2014). Cases onto themselves? Theory and research on ex-socialist urban environments. Geografie, 119, 299–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Špaček, O. (2012). Czech housing estates: Factors of stability and future development. Czech Sociological Review, 48(5), 965–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Špačková, P., Pospíšilová, L., & Ouředníček, M. (2016). The long-term development of socio-spatial differentiation in socialist and post-socialist Prague. Czech Sociological Review, 52(6), 821–860.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spilková, J., & Perlín, R. (2009). Czech physical planning at the crossroads: Towards the regulation of large-scale retail developments? Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 28, 290–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sýkora, L. (1999). Changes in the internal spatial structure of post-communist Prague. GeoJournal, 49, 79–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sýkora, L. (2006). Urban development, policy and planning in the Czech Republic and Prague. In U. Altrock & S. Gunter (Eds.), Spatial planning and urban development in the new EU member states (pp. 113–140). Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szafrańska, E. (2013). Large housing estates in post-socialist Poland as a housing policy challenge. European Spatial Research and Policy, 20(1), 119–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szafrańska, E. (2014). Transformations of large housing estates in post-socialist city: The case of Łódź, Poland. Geographia Polonica, 87(1), 77–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szafrańska, E., Coudroy de Lille, L., & Kazimierczak, J. (2019). Urban shrinkage and housing in a post-socialist city: Relationship between the demographic evolution and housing development in Łódź, Poland. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 34, 441–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-018-9633-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temelová, J. (2007). Flagship developments and the physical upgrading of the post socialist inner city: The golden angel project in Prague. Geografiska Annaler, 89B(2), 169–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temelová, J. (2009). Urban revitalization in central and inner parts of (post-socialist) cities: Conditions and consequences. In T. Ilmavirta (Ed.), Regenerating Urban Core (pp. 12–25). Helsinki University of Technology, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temelová, J. (2012). Revitalizing panel housing estates in Czechia. Geografické Rozhledy, 22(2), 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temelová, J., Novák, J., Ouředníček, M., & Puldová, P. (2011). Housing estates after socialism: Various trajectories and inner differentiation. Urban Studies, 48(9), 1811–1834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Temelová, J., & Slezáková, A. (2014). The changing environment and neighbourhood satisfaction in socialist high-rise panel housing estates: The time-comparative perceptions of elderly residents in Prague. Cities, 37, 82–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban, F. (2018). Large Housing Estates of Berlin, Germany. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 99–120). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Vaattovaara, M., Joutsiniemi, A., Kortteinen, M., Stjernberg, M., & Kemppainen, T. (2018). Experience of a Preventive Experiment: Spatial Social Mixing in Post-World War II Housing Estates in Helsinki, Finland. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 215–240). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • van Beckhoven, E., Bolt, G., & van Kempen, R. (2009). Theories of Neighbourhood Change and Decline: Their Significance for Post-WWII Large Housing Estates in European Cities. In R. Rowlands, S. Musterd, & R. van Kempen (Eds.), Mass Housing in Europe (pp. 20–50). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230274723_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Veselý, M. (2015). At home at a large housing estate? Local identity and place identification at the Southern Town in Prague. Dissertation theses. Charles University, Prague.

  • Wassenberg, F. (2018). Beyond an Ugly Appearance: Understanding the Physical Design and Built Environment of Large Housing Estates. In D. Hess, T. Tammaru, & M. van Ham (Eds.), Housing Estates in Europe: Poverty, Ethnic Segregation and Policy Challenges (pp. 35–55). Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Data sources

Download references

Acknowledgements

This paper was supported by the Czech Science Foundation [grant number 20-09692S ‘History and future of housing estates: quality of residential environment and residential satisfaction’].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Urban and Regional Laboratory, Charles University, Albertov 6, Prague 2, 128 43, Prague, Czechia

    Martin Ouředníček & Zuzana Kopecká

Authors
  1. Martin Ouředníček
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zuzana Kopecká
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Ouředníček.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ouředníček, M., Kopecká, Z. Towards ordinary quarters: the development of housing estates in Prague after transformation. J Hous and the Built Environ 38, 61–84 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-021-09891-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-021-09891-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation