Public Development of Housing in the Czech Republic
Abstract: Public development is a crucial form of urban development, and the active role of the public sector is a condition for promoting the public interest in this area. Housing is an important phenomenon of urban development and especially a basic human need that underwent a fundamental paradigm shift in the Czech Republic after 1989, when the housing market replaced state-organised construction. The fundamental motivation for public development of housing is the housing affordability. What is the current condition of this phenomenon in the Czech republic? The research focuses on the conscious real estate investment by municipalities, which leads to the creation or transformation of housing. The basic problem and potential lies in the fact, that although public development in various forms takes place, it has not yet been defined as a distinct phenomenon in the Czech academic environment. Therefore, the first objective of this paper is to define public development of housing in the context of the Czech Republic. The second objective is to create a so-called toolbox: a systematic overview of its instruments and their basic classification. To do so, the theory was complemented by qualitative research. Public development of housing is fundamentally a tool and a process. This paper characterizes it in detail, distinguishes its types and describes its objectives based on theory and practice. The standard tools are illustrated by specific projects that have been built. The paper thus provides an overall overview of the phenomenon in the context of the Czech Republic.
