Prague to take new measures to protect its historical center and skyline, says new plan

Prague, Jan 15 (CTK) – The City of Prague will demand that the structure of the city and its street network is respected, protect the skylines and prevent the construction of too big commercial centres, according to the plan for the protection of the world cultural heritage of Prague’s historic centre.

Park and ride facilities and ring roads will be built and tourists should also spread to other parts of the city to protect its historic centre.

The historic center of Prague has been listed as a World Heritage Site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) since 1992.

The city is obliged to create the approve the management plan as this is one of the conditions of the UNESCO listing.

“We must be able to deal with the balance between the development of a modern city and heritage protection,” city councillor Hana Trestikova said, adding that the City of Prague would like to UNESCO’s responsible and active partner that is really interested in heritage protection.

According to the management plan, the city should prevent the replacement of the typical Prague paving stones with new types of pavement. The roof structure in the historic districts should be protected as well.

Plots should not be merged to prevent the building of big facilities and demolition of buildings is generally considered unacceptable.

Prague City Hall clerks must make decisions that are in accordance with the plan.

The UNESCO experts who visited Prague in the spring warned of the existing and planned high-rise buildings.

The historic centre of Prague may go on the list of World Heritage in Danger as Czech officials do not protect it enough, according to a report written after the UNESCO World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission in Prague last year.