The Riverside of Prague: Problems and Possibilities of Non-Traditional Public Spaces in a Deep City

Prague belongs to the cities with richest history and the richest set of historical monuments in the world. Given this, it is hardly surprising that after the fall of the communist regime in 1989, Prague became one of the centers of global tourism. As a result, the historical city center is exposed to increasing gentrification accompanied by the strictly commercial use of all available spaces. In my paper, I describe the misuse of three prominent public spaces of the city center: St Wenceslas Place, a piazzetta between the Quadrio and Škoda buildings, and a piazzetta in front of the Intercontinental hotel. The fate of the last two places was sealed by a row of erroneous decision of town councils which all preferred the commodification of these areas to their free use. I further try to analyze to role of Prague flood channels as non-traditional public spaces. After the initial success, all these areas are subject to increasing press leading to their intensive commercial use and to the loss of their original character. If the municipal politicians do not change their approach, the very existence of an actually public space in the city center will be practically excluded.