To date there hasn’t been a comprehensive set of rules, in Prague or in other Czech cities, governing the way developers should pay off the municipality for increasing their real estate value through zoning changes. That’s why the Prague City Hall is currently working on the first “Methodology for investor contributions - recommended contributions attached to zoning changes”. Lead author Filip Foglar explains the key principles of the tool in the following interview.

The concepts of the inhabited landscape, popularized in the first half of the 20^th century, or the recreational landscape in the second, are no longer sufficient for describing and understanding suburban recreation today. Nor are suburban parks, green rings or wedges. How can we understand human interventions in the landscape today? Which parts of the landscape are more valuable than others? Environmental challenges, agricultural production, ecosystem services and diversity, all need to be considered in relation to our expectations of time spent in nature....

The existing building of The Research Library of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, formerly the Museum of the Workers’ Revolutionary Movement, was built in the 1970s. The time period is reflected in its sculptural form and brutalist style. The building is broken up into several volumes, meaning the resulting layout isn’t very well suited for a public library program with a free flowing collection space. On the other hand, the design of the extension forms a simple horizontal pavilion, floating just a few feet above ground, completely glazed and offering views to the surrounding park. A low, compact volume perfectly fits the program requirements, which called for more collection space, a flexible layout, and wheelchair accessible entrance lobby. The wide, paved access ramp connects the library directly to Lidická street. Inside, a second glazed ramp joins the old building and the extension together. Two art installations, the Battle of Zboriv memorial and the boulder stone from Novohradské hory are located near a sidewalk on the side of the building, leading through a park towards the riverbank.

A developer is generally not a very popular figure in the Czech Republic—on the contrary. Few professions have such a bad reputation. But development is fundamentally a neutral real estate investment process, regardless of the scale, where the objective is to increase the value of land and the result is—development. Unless we decide to give up further expansion and evolution of our built environment altogether, or until we are forced to do so, development is inevitable. Ultimately, the ability of society as a whole to reach consensus, and agree on the values that should be created through development, is the only thing that matters.

The question of “why” is present in every step or the architectural design process. But finding a coherent line of argumentation becomes especially complicated when designing hospitals or in fact any kind of healthcare facility. This process often leads to different, yet still valid answers, which nevertheless seem mutually exclusive. Even with contemporary healthcare architecture, there are certain lessons to learn from history.