Integration of informational support for spatial and strategic planning, by Karel Maier, Daniel Franke, Jiří Hájek, Tomáš Peltan and Štěpán Vizina
The boom in information technologies offers a great opportunity to planners and decision-makers in spatial development. Disciplines such as spatial planning, strategic planning and management of regional development have hitherto had separate databases, although in many cases these overlap. The authors’ proposal for a common information platform is based on data systematically collected by various subjects in public administration. A significant amount of input data is provided by the Czech Statistical Office (census), while information on spatial planning in the form of documents of spatial analysis is derived from the Ministries’ sectional databases. All these data compose a system of framework indicators for all domains of spatial planning.
The framework indicators cover all three pillars of sustainable development. They are categorized in the following thematic fields: population in territories, structure and character of population, individual safety and socio-pathogenic phenomena, public health, level of education, employment rate, potential for innovation, prosperity of household, municipal economy, entrepreneurship, energy resources and consumption, financial resources and economic prosperity, public services, public facilities, housing, transportation infrastructure and services, technical, communications and environmental infrastructure, functional use of space, use of water and water regime in territories, sustainable agriculture and forestry, and potential for tourism. These indicators are monitored at regional and local level; other specific indicators have been designed for metropolitan areas, regional centres and rural municipalities.
The framework indicators can be used to assess tendencies in these thematic fields and pillars of sustainable development without additional cost for ad hoc procurement of data. The unified content of the data allows comparison of the state of and trends in various territorial units. The application part of the project provides an interpretation framework that takes into consideration specific types and scales of territories. Various examples are used to show how sustainability can be evaluated by observation of trends and comparison among territories.
Professional observation of trends requires an adequate time axis of compatible data. It is therefore necessary to standardize data and make them accessible continuously. It will probably take some time to build up an adequate basis for the observation of trends in phenomena that might have been observed earlier but were neglected in terms of standardization.
Public amenities in small settlements: diagnosis, standards and planning, by Josef Bernard, Miroslav Joukl and Lucie Vítková
This article provides a basic quantitative record of public amenities in small settlements, their dynamics in time and basic relevant factors. Based on these data, the authors propose a concept for a ‘common standard of facilities’ as a tool for assessing the level of local amenities and as a publicly accessible online tool for comparison of the level of these facilities in individual settlements. The basic findings of the analyses indicate that there is an immediate relation between quality and number of inhabitants. The probability that a settlement provides a wider sphere of services is higher in more populated municipalities, although such an increase is not linear for all types of services. The most frequent services and infrastructures are playgrounds and sports fields, grocer’s shops, restaurants and pubs, and kindergartens and primary schools. The median size of a settlement in the Czech Republic is approximately 430 inhabitants. It can be expected that a typical median settlement has a playground, a grocer’s shop and a restaurant or pub. There will probably be a kindergarten and a primary school in many of them, but schooling institutions are not the common standard. A typical suburban settlement is less well equipped than a peripheral settlement of the same population. The level of such facilities has been relatively stable over the last two decades, although the proportion of places equipped with a grocer’s shop is in decline, resulting in a variety of subsidy programmes aimed at protecting shops in villages. The number of doctors’ surgeries is also in decline. By contrast, more and more settlements are equipped with a sports field.
Spatial planning in Sweden, by Irena Klingorová
This article deals with spatial planning in the Kingdom of Sweden, one of the most advanced countries in Europe. The division of this relatively large country into administration units is described with attention to the organizational structure of these units and the responsibilities of specific institutions and organizations involved in the process of spatial planning. The structure of Swedish planning documents is presented with reference to specific levels of the planning system. The overall structure of spatial planning in Sweden may seem surprisingly simple, yet this is a general feature as typical for Sweden and Scandinavia as the minimalist curves of Ikea furniture.
Integration of foreigners in municipalities: Facts and recommendations, by Marie Jelínková & Pavla Čerychová
Based mainly on local perspectives, this article discusses the integration of foreigners in the Czech Republic. The opening part presents data available, theoretical mainstays of integration and current approaches of national policies to integration of migrants at local level. The publication Recommendations for Municipalities on the Integration of Foreigners is then described, focusing on points that have proved to be of key importance for the coexistence of the majority and recent incomers. In the conclusion, the article enumerates persistant challenges and refers to proven sources of information applicable both in the short term and continually.
A town portal enables everybody to draw on data, by Martin Dvořák, Adam Estefányi, Eva Gregorová, Róbert Spál and Jan Zvara
Data are all around us. Not only are they generated by mobile phones, cars and miscellaneous sensors and systems, but most importantly, people collect and analyse them in order to derive information. The value of compact data systems is rising, and public administration is well aware of this. Nevertheless, true added value is only created by analysis and ensuing use of information utilizable for decision-making concerning future development and orientation of towns and cities. It is necessary to make plans and work with public space on the basis of information emerging from data, not subjective impressions and surmises. As an example, this article shows this process from data collection to application in basic conceptual, strategic and spatial documents pertaining to the city of Brno.
Depreciation of plots in a local plan, by Marek Hanák
This article addresses a statement by the public defender of rights regarding an application for an inquiry into the conduct of a municipal and a regional office in the case of a local plan which, according to the complainant, has restricted this party’s proprietary rights. Referring to previous practice of the courts, the author examines claims of discrimination and potential conflict of interest in the process of spatial planning: the municipality rejected the owner’s request for categorization of his plot as developable land while plots belonging to the mayor and another local representative, who was head of the Department of Building and Spatial Development, were granted such categorization without further explanation.
