People create “cool space” in the city
Change the streets, complete the squares or parks and other public spaces according to their own ideas - such a possibility has been offered to active citizens or non-profit organizations by a subsidy programme for the revitalization of public space in the city.
Hrabovjanka Park is an idea of the inhabitants of Hrabová district in Ostrava. Photo: I. and L. Hromádka
The programme has already received two calls, each amounting to five million crowns, which served not only to enhance public places, but also to increase their utility value or to acquire new functions. The projects are always evaluated by an expert commission, and the allocation of the subsidy is decided by the City authorities. In the second call, the amount of subsidy for one project changed from CZK 1 million to CZK 500,000, and the range of applicants narrowed to natural persons and non-governmental non-profit organizations only - associations, institutions, cooperatives, foundations and endowment funds, etc. In the first call, the City supported eleven projects, in the second one fourteen.
The project plan must be supported by the signatures of at least 15 people aged over 15 on the signature sheet. A condition for granting the subsidy is also the involvement of the public in the preparation and implementation of the project. The call seeks to engage the active population in urban development and helping shape the urban space. Inhabitants naturally create and develop communities around the selected project, leading to more and more meaningful use of the space, but also to preventing vandalism and the overall increase in collective security in the City. In addition, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the landowner in advance in order for the expert commission to assess the feasibility of the project and the landowner’s consent with the project and that there is no obstacle to its implementation.
Successful projects include e.g. the Sculpture Fountain at Hlubina Mine, repairs of sculptures in Milada Horáková park and the natural forest park Hrabovjanka. More information.