At the current meetings with citizens one complaint recurs strikingly often: a lot of people in Prague 8 feel that the town hall does not talk to them and that it decides about them without them.
So each of our events brings attention to further topics.
In April we met people in Čimická Kozlovna, in May in front of the Krakov shopping centre, at the beginning of June the Na Verandě pub in Kobylisy was full, and we also met in Hercovka park in Holešovičky and in Cobolis at Ládví.
Every neighbourhood deals with something different. What they share is the feeling that the town hall does not listen
Neighbours from Kobylisy want to know what will happen next with the Sokolníky shopping centre and how the ideas about linking the streets below Čimický háj will turn out.
In Holešovičky the talk was about transport and noise, but also about safety and unchecked development.
At Ládví the main topics included broken pavements, the care of green space and protecting this highly valued housing estate from densification.
Every place has its own specific problems. But one thing recurs across Prague 8: people want to know in good time what is planned in their neighbourhood, and they want to be able to influence how it looks.
Neighbourhood contacts are not a formal role
For every area of Prague 8 we have contacts who live there themselves and collect ideas from their surroundings.
Their role is not merely symbolic. They are meant to be in direct contact with people, to know the specific places, the problems and the long-term context. That is exactly how general complaints can turn into specific suggestions that can be pursued further at the council, with the district authority, the city hall or other institutions.
Local politics should not be made only in the council chamber. It has to come out of the streets, parks, housing estates, schools, crossings and the places where people live every day.
What we need from you
You can write to us with your questions, comments or tips. You can turn to the contact for your own neighbourhood or directly to our candidate for mayor Václav Stránský at:
And better still: come and meet us in person.
What comes up most often at the meetings
From the recent debates we are taking away several clear themes:
- the town hall must communicate with citizens before things are decided
- every neighbourhood in Prague 8 needs its own specific person who knows the local problems
- Kobylisy wants clarity about the Sokolníky shopping centre and the plans below Čimický háj
- Holešovičky needs transport, noise, safety and the pressure of insensitive development to be addressed
- Ládví wants to protect the quality of the housing estate, green space and public space
- people do not want general promises, but specific answers and visible results
Prague 8 should live with people, not next to them
Meetings with citizens are not an add-on to political work. They are its foundation.
Prague 8 cannot work well if people find out about changes in their surroundings late, unclearly or not at all. A good town hall should talk to residents continuously, comprehensibly and with respect for the fact that they are the ones who know their neighbourhoods best.
Let Prague 8 live. Not just on a poster, but in everyday work with the people who live here.