EVENTS AND DEBATES zy After the fall: crisis and renewal in urban planning in the Czech Republic* zy LILY M. HOFFMAN Introduction The Czech Republic is an interesting site in which to examine the development of urban planning post-communism. One scenario is that planning will make a transition similar to what we have seen in the west during the past decade zyxw - from physical planning to economic development (Fainstein, 1990). An alternate trajectory would be a ‘transformation’ (Stark, 1992) that reflects the unique circumstances of the country, in particular its history and the political decentralization and democratization that have marked the introduction of markets. Immediately after the ‘velvet revolution’ of November 1989, urban planning in the Czech Republic’ became a profession in crisis. Planning (of any kind) was identified with the former state socialist system of directive, top-down plans, and the public planning apparatus was for the most part dismantled. Planning institutes faced serious funding cuts; those planners who could find other work left the profession. Planners estimated that only 20% of them would be needed and there was serious concern about the continued existence of a public sector. With public legitimacy in doubt, planners even debated changing their name to ‘policy-makers’. Until recently, there has been little official or public support for planning, no legislation requiring plans, and little money to pay for them.2 To better understand the crisis and renewal of planning in the Czech Republic, I will first briefly describe planning before 1989. Although our focus is the present, it is important to recognize that state socialism, like market democracy, introduced far- * An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP), October 1993. This paper is part of an ongoing study of urban planning, before, during and after state socialism. In addition to documentary sources, I have drawn upon 30 repeated in-depth interviews which have been numbered and are referred to in the text. This work is partially funded by a PSC-CUNY Research Grant. On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Unless otherwise indicated, discussion and data for the period preceding November 1989 is for Czechoslovakia as a whole, also referred to as eSSR (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic). For the post-1989 period, reference is to the Czech Republic. 2 The 1976 planning law zyxwvut (#50) has been amended, although not yet replaced. The most important amendment (#262, 1991) limits the conditions under which expropriation of property can occur: It also states that the plan, when approved by the municipality, can be incorporated as local law. 1 zyxwvutsrqpo 0 Joint Editors and Basil Blackwell Ltd 1994. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 IJF, UK and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA