A number of cities in the Czech Republic are grappling with industrial heritage

Prague - In the Czech Republic, there are still many cities that were historically oriented towards industrial production and are now desperately seeking new uses for abandoned and devastated factory halls. The conference Urbes 2007, which will take place on November 27 and 28 in Prague, is dedicated to the industrial heritage of cities, as well as the problems associated with the revitalization of housing estates and historical centers. Its program was presented to the press today by the organizers.
    The president of the conference, Michal Illner from the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, pointed out that revitalization, meaning the revitalization of cities, their parts, individual buildings, and areas, is a task that has been addressed in many Western European countries for several decades. In the Czech Republic, this issue was fully opened up only in the 1990s, and in a much more urgent form than in the West.
    The problems lie mainly in the considerable neglect of the urban infrastructure, housing stock, public services, the environment, the heritage fund, and centers of historical cities, and are also related to the construction of mono-functional housing estates.
    Illner noted that cities that were previously focused on certain industrial activities now need to orient themselves in a different direction, which is not always successful. The decline of industry and the closure of manufacturing enterprises have significantly affected, for example, Kladno, Ostrava, cities along the Elbe, but also Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. "We have quite a number of such cities. Some have managed to find new opportunities. Some are still struggling with it," the sociologist remarked. He pointed out that revitalization often represents a political problem and is about the conflict of interests of various groups - for example, heritage conservationists and developers.
    The two-day conference at the Czech Technical University building in Prague primarily aims to engage representatives and staff of self-governments and institutions involved in revitalization projects. Last year's edition, which focused on urban development in the context of the Přemyslid tradition, was attended by over 170 representatives from Czech self-governments.
    More information about the conference can be found at the website www.urbes.cz.