Planned Support for Studies and Projects in 2025 within the Operational Programme Environment, the Operational Programme Just Transition, and the National Programme Environment, by Anna Botová
The article provides information about the planned announcement of calls focusing on support for the development of landscape spatial studies, projects for the Territorial System of Ecological Stability, and studies of urban green infrastructure within the Operational Programme Environment and the Operational Programme Just Transition. It will be possible to obtain financial support for other types of studies and projects, such as the development of the spatial plan, regulatory plan, spatial planning documents, and other materials useful in spatial planning within the Operational Programme Just Transition. Additionally, the National Programme Environment will newly support the development of regulatory plan components within spatial plans, as well as the development of regulatory plans for municipalities located in protected landscape areas and national parks.
Demographic Forecasts as a Tool for Improving Spatial Planning in the Czech Republic: Methods, Examples, and Legislation, by Petr Jirásek
This paper examines the issue of demographic forecasting within the context of spatial planning in the Czech Republic. Demographic forecasts are presented as a crucial instrument for the effective planning of municipal development, particularly in the determination of needs for new developable areas and the appropriate scaling of public infrastructure. The paper highlights the significance of integrating these forecasts with spatial analytical data and provides an analysis of the legislative framework regulating this integration. The specific characteristics of local forecasts for small territorial units are presented, encompassing methodological approaches for their development (delineation of the area of interest, analysis of the reproductive system, forecasting of population development components, and construction of a projection model). Moreover, the paper offers examples of best practices in the utilization of forecasts in the Czech Republic and analyzes instances where demographic trends were disregarded in spatial planning, resulting in adverse outcomes such as excessive development and inadequate public amenities. The discussion section identifies key deficiencies in current practice, including ambiguities in legislation and insufficient expertise among certain actors. Finally, the paper proposes recommendations for improvement, including the necessity of establishing population forecasts as a mandatory input for spatial plans within the Building Act itself.
Spatial Analytical Documents at the Ministry of Regional Development: An Interview by Karel Wirth with Kateřina Vrbová and Hana Máchová
Kateřina Vrbová (methodology, including standardisation) and Hana Máchová (development of spatial analytical documents for the Czech Republic) are in charge of the issue of spatial analytical documents within the Department of Spatial Planning and Building Rules of the Ministry for Regional Development. The interview, which took place in March 2025, was conducted with them by editorial board member Karel Wirth.
Spatial Analytical Documents and Spatial Planning Authorities, Expectations and Possibilities, by Martin Tunka
The article summarizes the reasons for the creation of spatial analytical documents (SAD), the associated needs and expectations, primarily in connection with the activities of planning spatial authorities, which are the developers of spatial analytical documents for the administrative districts of municipalities with extended powers (hereinafter referred to as SAD).
Spatial Analytical Documents in the South Bohemian Region, by Romana Vačkářová
The following text will try to make the readers familiar with the experience of the spatial analytical documents development (hereinafter also referred to as “SAD”) at the regional level, particularly with the best practices of the joint approach to developing the spatial analytical document database. It will also explain how complete updates of the SAD are carried out, especially how the complete updates of municipal SADs are handled, how the projects for the spatial changes are approached, and how the issues to be addressed are defined.
Experience of the Regional Authority of the Karlovy Vary Region with a Unified Approach to the Development of Spatial Analytical Documents, by Lukáš Švéda
In 2007, a new obligation for regional and spatial planning authorities in municipalities with extended powers was introduced in the then-new Building Act No. 183/2006 Coll. This obligation was the development of spatial analytical documents, which, as one part of the spatial planning documents, was intended to identify and assess the state and spatial development. In the Karlovy Vary Region, from the very beginning of this new agenda, the entities responsible for the development of the spatial analytical documents agreed on a joint approach and implemented a project called “Coordinated Development and Management of Spatial Analytical Documents in the Karlovy Vary Region”. A process that, in current terminology, could be described as the standardisation of the entire spatial analytical document agenda, began to develop under the methodological guidance of the regional authority. Gradually, a system that included a unified data model, unified symbology, a catalogue of phenomena and items, as well as other methodological tools or materials, which helped to grasp the new competence and positively contributed to fulfilling legislative requirements, was developed.
A Thing Is Not a Value, a Thing Has a Value: Values in the Spatial Analytical Documents of the Capital City of Prague 2024, by Vít Rýpar
The article critically addresses the concept of values in Czech urbanism and spatial planning. It highlights the widespread issue of an incorrect understanding of spatial values, which fails to distinguish between values and assessed assets. It provides a brief explanation of the theory of values and, using the example of the spatial analytical documents (SAD) of the Capital City of Prague update No. 6, offers a possibility of how to apply it in spatial assessment. Expert spatial assessment, which serves as a methodological complement to participatory assessment involving the local public, forms a standard part of every regular SAD update. Its balance and objectivity are important for applying the SAD outcomes in conceptual planning as well as in the spatial decision-making process. Just like the public interest, spatial values are based on the assessments made of each case at a specific time and place. Therefore, the article also presents the results of an analysis carried out during the development of the SAD of the Capital City of Prague, update No. 6 which reveals an unexpectedly diverse composition of value content within the SAD for municipalities with extended powers.
Population and Socio-Demographic Conditions in the Spatial Analytical Documents of the Capital City of Prague 2024, by Tomáš Brabec
The article presents the method of visualisation, interpretation, and the role of the topic “People in the city” in spatial analytical documents (SAD) using the specific example of the SAD of the Capital City of Prague. It focuses on the assessment of population development figures, demographic trends, social structure, and the spatial distribution of the population in the present-day City of Prague. The population of Prague has been steadily increasing, and according to demographic forecasts, a continued rise in population numbers can be expected with a high degree of probability. The dynamics of population growth are closely linked to the social structure of urban residents. Growing cities like the City of Prague typically feature lower average age of inhabitants, a higher proportion of foreign nationality residents, more people with tertiary education, and higher household incomes.
SAD – A Source of Emotion and Misunderstanding? by Tomáš Russe
The article assesses the approach to the issue of carrying out analyses of spatial analytical documents (SAD) from the perspective of a designer, as well as from the perspective of a municipal representative and external technical cooperation during the complete update of the documents. It focuses on the occasional misunderstanding of the differences between individual parts and the resulting problems, particularly the reluctance of planning authorities and municipalities to deal with the documents at all.
Spatial Analytical Documents of Municipalities with Extended Powers – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, by Václav Jetel
Let us look back at the last 18 years of spatial analytical documents and try to reflect in this article on how they have served and continue to serve in spatial planning activities, whether to representatives of local authorities, designers, or documentation developers. Each period of this tool has been associated with efforts to improve its quality and completeness, although it is a tool for continuous, ongoing activity, we should not focus solely on the periodicity of its complete updates. Nevertheless, through these updates, we have gained new methodological guidelines and instructions that have refined the goals and tasks of this spatial planning tool.
