We spoke with OMGEVING about their participation in the international open call to devise a new masterplan in České Budějovice in Czeck Republik.

What are the key features of this master plan?

The zoning plan will be ambitious in its visions, flexible for the future, unambiguous and simple for decision-making in the territory, and realistic in its proposals and intentions. Regarding the requirement of the city to have a new zoning plan by the end of 2028 to guide the building laws, it is necessary to very carefully set a work schedule. Our multidisciplinary and international team ensures to bring local as well as foreign knowledge to this diligent project coordination.

In our vision, the zoning plan is more than just a legislative plan. We propose clear and understandable ambitions such as striving for a climate-resilient, productive, and 15-minute city that is suitable for all generations and is vibrant 24 hours year-round. These ambitions create a basic concept for the development of the city, which will then be further worked out within individual sub-concepts of the spatial plan.

In addition to the zoning plan we define useful spatial guidelines to streamline the spatial policy and the overall image quality. They are key for further development and improvement of the current situation, with respect for the valuable, identifying elements or, in other words, the DNA of České Budějovice. The guidelines will ensure the flexibility of the plan in the future, limiting the need for frequent changes.

What problems the city České Budějovice has that you addressed? And what are the advantages you chose to accent?

There are several key topics that we bring our focus to. The current organic growth and evolution of the city and the constant expansion of industry are deteriorating green areas, water features and the compactness of the city. Therefore, we propose to rethink the limited available space and to provide enough functions within, to avoid (further) damaging the existing, valuable landscape within the city perimeter. The green-blue network and its biodiversity are vulnerable, so we need to think of how to create and integrate a safe living space for animals and their habitats in the city while making it climate change resilient. In order to develop an accessible and traffic-safe city it is crucial to initiate a reduction of car mobility, to think of a smart parking strategy and to support pedestrian and bicycle traffic. All these different aspects are included in the plan and show that we are taking steps to turn the city into a welcoming, accessible, attractive and functional place, for all generations and different population groups all year round.

Did you change/propose any new land use?

To simplify the vision for the zoning plan, we propose a basic urban concept for every district, which can be divided into specific localities if necessary. Various strategic areas will be defined where transformation can cause momentum for a bigger area. The conditions of future development, requirements for the spatial arrangement of buildings, the connections of the blue-green infrastructure, the directions of transport and technical infrastructure will be determined for each district, just like the solutions for public spaces and civic amenities.

How did you deal with “conflicting situations” like green/blue and mobility infrastructure?

As the city grows, every element relies on another, which makes everything connected. We are taking the climate change topic as a base framework for the future development of the city. We provide more room for water features by thoroughly rethinking the mobility system, without sacrificing accessibility. Alternative transportation, such as cycling, can be reinforced within the green strategy. In spaces where two elements clash, we split them apart. To develop a 15-minutes city we define clear and legible structures, point out transformation areas and avoid undefined spaces. This works in favour of green and blue structures, provides more room for fluctuating water levels and helps the city to adapt to the effects of climate change.

How many residents do České Budějovice have, can this be scaled up?

Currently, there are 97.000 inhabitants in České Budějovice. The city has the ambition to become the metropolitan capital of South Bohemia and around 40.000 newcomers are expected in the future. Therefore, sustainable growth is one of the focus points of the project. In order to control an urban sprawl, and thus expansion of the city, we propose an efficient densification of existing economic areas, such as the eastern part of the city, that are monofunctional, unattractive and not dense enough. We balance diversity and liveability, by providing sufficient attention to supporting functions during the city’s growth. We focus on increased spatial efficiency without posing a threat to the social and spatial identity and DNA of the city.

Tell us about your decision to participate.

This zoning plan was not our first competition in České Budějovice. We started working in this city in 2023 with a few other proposals, such as the ZEVO Energy Plant, where we won the first prize for the building and the masterplan phase) and the Budweiser Brewery competition. During these projects, we experienced the potential of the city and saw numerous opportunities. The ambition of the municipality is very promising; therefore, we wanted to share our experience of spatial planning in Western Europe and contribute to the sustainable development of České Budějovice.

Project Details

Project contractors: Studio MAP (CZ), Pavel Hnilička architects + planners (CZ), OMGEVING (BE)

Subcontractors: Studio-Relinkt (CZ), Štepan Špoula(CZ)

Partners: PPU, Participation factory, Mott MacDonald, SocGeoStudio, TopGis, Ing. Pavla Žídková, Ing. Jaroslav Krejčí