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Brownfields

"Brownfields" - unused land or buildings that are awaiting recovery after the end of industrial activity

Brownfield


Ostrava offers several opportunities for investors at brownfield sites. These former industrial sites – which are no longer used and are now ideal for redevelopment – make up around 8.9 % of the city’s total area (19.04 km2). The largest brownfields in Ostrava are the Karolina, Lower Vítkovice and Hrušov Development Zone. All these brownfields are now in private ownership, and their owners are investing in major revitalization projects.

Most of these sites are private properties. You can learn more information about them in the MSID´s database (Moravian-Silesian Investment and Development) - only in Czech.

Good examples:

Lower Vítkovice

The Lower Vítkovice complex – a former heavy industrial site where production ceased in 1998 – covers a total area of 150 ha and is divided into three parts. In the northern part of the complex is the former Hlubina coal mine, blast furnaces, a coking plant and a chemical plant. The central part of the complex was used for mechanical engineering, and the southern part was the site of a group of industrial and administrative buildings. In the autumn of 2003 the complex was purchased by the Vítkovice company (Vítkovice a.s.). Most of the site has now been revitalized, and the historic ironworks (the blast furnace complex) is now a National Cultural Monument.

Karolina

The Karolina complex was a huge brownfield in the city centre which used to be the site of a coking plant (established 1858) and a power plant (1905). Today the site has been transformed into a brand-new city centre quarter with a shopping mall, offices and residential developments – known as Nová Karolina (“New Karolina”).

Hrušov

The Hrušov zone borders on the Odra River and the D1 motorway, and is adjacent to Bohumínská Street. It is a “social brownfield” – meaning that it was not the site of factories, but workers’ housing for nearby companies. These accommodation blocks remained in use until 1989, after which they were gradually abandoned. The floods of 1997 caused the complete abandonment of the area, which is now being redeveloped.