The Issue of Central Public Spaces (Squares) of Municipalities in Immediate Vicinity of Large Cities
Abstract: The article deals with the problem of missing central public spaces - the squares - of some small municipalities located in the close neighborhood of large cities. These spaces contain necessary local amenities (a grocery, café, newspaper stand etc. ), which is also missing or deployed in an unorganized manner in these municipalities. This problem has not been solved by the municipality, because the demand for local amenities has been satisfied in a nearby big city. With the growth of building and population, the absence of public space and amenities is becoming more and more pronounced. How to build these missing spaces and how to ensure their correct functioning is the topic of this article. This issue is explored on several examples of successful building of the missing central public space in municipalities around Prague. They are the villages Statenice, Cernosice-Vraz, Dolni Brezany. The unsuccessful realization of the public space in the municipal part of Bechovice is investigated. The village Kvetnice is waiting for the solution of the problem of the missing public space. These examples show several principles for successful functioning of the future new central public spaces. The first principle is the placement of the future space in the existing structure of the municipality, at the place of the highest density of the built-up area (the legislative framework - the zoning plan - the building plan), the link to the public transport and other motor traffic, the main pedestrian routes, the spatial delimitation with the dominant element, local reasonable amenities. These and others are described in this article. The failure to respect these principles is proved by the unsuccessful realization of the public space in Bechovice.
