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Prague Monitor / Czech News in English > Life > Praguescape > Praguescape: In the pink?
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Praguescape: In the pink?

By: Kristina Alda
On: October 20, 2009
In: Praguescape
Tagged: Kristina Alda, Prague Daily Monitor


Recently I took the metro to the end of the C-line and emerged to find myself in the midst of a pastel-coloured concrete candy land: blocks upon blocks of pale blue, baby pink, peach and improbably sunny shades of yellow. Some building facades even had stripes or artfully scattered geometrical patterns.

Jižní Město, the country’s biggest panel housing estate, which lies southeast of Prague’s city centre, just celebrated its 33rd anniversary, and I was curious to see what had changed. The last five years of its existence were devoted to revitalisation, in part subsidised by EU funds, with the aim of making it more liveable. This was the place that once epitomised the dehumanised face of socialist housing. Upon construction in 1976, it was essentially a giant residence factory, with rows of uniformly grey high-rises, no sidewalks, little greenery and few playgrounds or social amenities. It was cut off from the rest of the city, built in haste and with little planning on a muddy field. Famously, in Věra Chytilová’s 1979 film Panel Story, the inhabitants of Jižní Město were so alienated from their surroundings that they didn’t even know the name of their street.

On a sunny afternoon three decades later, the place appeared like any other decent neighbourhood: mothers jogging by with aerodynamic baby prams, emo teenagers lolling about on benches sharing cigarettes, a middle-aged man vomiting on a well-maintained patch of lawn, kids stocking up on candy in the local grocery shop. But the backdrop of looming pastel facades made this peaceful normality seem somehow grotesque. When you paint a monstrously large block of panel flats pink, does it become less monstrous? It remains a huge mass of concrete, the apartments inside are still small and identical, and the roads alongside it are still busy and difficult to cross.

Of course, that’s an outsider’s perspective. Dozens of studies have been conducted on such housing estates, including this one, and some indicate that panel living is not so bad. In the late 1990s, the French anthropologist Laurent Bazac-Billaud studied Jižní město and found that the conditions were quite favourable, with strong social networks, plenty of greenery and decent public transportation. That’s reassuring, given that roughly one-third of Czechs and one-half of Praguers live in panel houses. Also reassuring is that, despite warnings from some sociologists, in the Czech Republic these estates have not become ghettos inhabited mainly by low-income and welfare families. The middle class has not moved out, and, since many of the flats are now privately owned and passed on from generation to generation, young families with children live there alongside the pensioners who moved in during the panel building boom three decades ago. And housing co-ops and local town halls are using EU and government funds to repair the poorly constructed buildings. For the most part, this means improving insulation to minimise heat loss, replacing windows and – the most visible change – painting the facades in bright colours according to often intricate schemes. About one-fifth of the country’s 750,000 panel apartments have been repaired so far.

But transforming places such as Jižní Město into vibrant communities can’t be just about restoring individual buildings and painting them pink. Some of the problems associated with panel neighbourhoods are larger than the sum of their parts. According to the urban theoretician Václav Cílek, the best way to revive the country’s large housing estates is by filling in the existing dead spaces. This means introducing variety: building lower structures among the high rises, with high-end apartments to bring in younger people with money to spend, opening shops on the floor level of buildings to help create street life, and improving transportation options so that the community wouldn’t be so cut off from the city centre.

And although Jižní Město now has a handful of small shops on the ground level of some of its buildings, there are still few places that could entice passersby to linger. The nearest shopping complex is called Eden, and to get there on foot usually means navigating a series of concrete underpasses and overpasses or crossing busy streets with few traffic lights. So most people drive or take the bus. From the window, they can marvel at the colour-co-ordinated panel facades along the way.

2009-10-20
Previous Post: Breakfast Brief – 20 October 2009
Next Post: If this couch could talk

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IFF Prague – Febiofest forms part of the new Ass IFF Prague – Febiofest forms part of the new Association of Czech Film Festivals.⠀
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The International Film Festival Prague – Febiofest and six other major Czech film festivals – Anifilm Liberec, Finále Plzeň, One World, Summer Film School Uherské Hradiště, Jihlava IDFF and Zlín Film Festival – have come together to create the Association of Czech Film Festivals.⠀
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This organization should enable festivals to efficiently solve the long-term problems facing the film festival scene, which have only intensified due to the complicated pandemic situation in the Czech Republic.⠀
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“I am very happy we have co-created an organization for film festivals which will also welcome other festivals as associate members. It is time we established a new, modern, professional system for financing film culture in the Czech Republic. Film festivals, who by bringing the best, most interesting productions from around the world contribute to the development of complex critical thinking in young people, are undoubtedly an intrinsic part of this,” says IFF Prague – Febiofest’s director Kamil Spáčil.⠀
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The issues facing Czech film festivals had been mounting even before the pandemic hit. The widening divide between growing expenses on the one hand and stagnating revenues on the other were pushing festivals – including those with years- and decades-long traditions and a loyal audience base – to the very limit of sustainable existence. The Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing restrictions simultaneously made the problem more apparent and significantly exacerbated it.⠀
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#prague #czechrepublic #praha #travel #czech #europe #travelgram #Europe #love #praga #instagood #instatravel #city #prag #picoftheday #pragueworld
Czechs pay more for electricity than anyone else i Czechs pay more for electricity than anyone else in Europe.⠀
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People in the Czech Republic have been paying more for electricity than citizens of any other country in Europe, according to a new report from Eurostat. ⠀
As Yookee reports, Germans, for example, are paying 37% less for electricity than the average Czech. ⠀
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“After accommodating for the purchasing power of each currency to allow for country-to-country comparisons, this is by the highest price in all of Europe. This is almost one-fifth more expensive, after conversion according to purchasing power parity of the local currency, than the second-highest electricity price in the E.U,” said Lukáš Kovanda, chief economist from Trinty Bank.⠀
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According to the Eurostat data, the average Czech household was paying about 4.66 CZK per kilowatt-hour last year, and consumed between 1,000 and 2,500 kilowatts. The economist says that even without accounting for the difference in purchasing power between Czechs and Germans, Czechs are still paying a higher price.⠀
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“Electricity was much more expensive for households in the Czech Republic than for German ones, even without accomodating for purchasing power. In the Czech Republic last year, without accounting for this metric, the kilowatt-per-hour price according to Eurostat stands at an average of 0.18 Euros annually. In Germany it was 0.17 Euros,” Kovanda said. ⠀
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Eurostat’s data is showing that Czechs paying more for electricity comes despite drastically plunging electricity prices in the country.⠀
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Looking purely at numbers, Bulgaria and Hungary pay the least for electricity, but when adjusting for income and purchasing power, Luxembourg pays the least. ⠀
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#news #covid #coronavirus #media #corona #viral #breakingnews #noticias #politics #trending #new #info #tvl #business ⠀
#czechnews
Czechs still lose savings due to the lack of finan Czechs still lose savings due to the lack of financial education.⠀
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A quarter of Czechs still leave their savings susceptible to the inflation process by securing them in cash. However, they are interested in making new investments, according to the Generali Investments CEE research.⠀
Cash savings are a preferred choice for a tenth of participants, especially for those with basic education. 14 percent of the respondents prefer keeping savings in a bank account.⠀
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“More than a fifth of Czechs have over 100,000 crowns in cash or in a bank account. Their savings are also subject to inflation and lose value in real terms. For example, last year, people who saved their money that way suffered a loss of up to 3.2 percent in value due to inflation and insufficient financial literacy generally,” Peter Mederly, Generali Investments CEE’s sales director, explained.⠀
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Based on the Eurostat research, Czechs participate in investments less often than other Western European citizens. For example, in Germany, 36 percent of participants hold savings in cash while in the Czech Republic this value sits around 45%. The Netherlands showed one of the lowest results with 15 percent of those who prefer cash savings. ⠀
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As for investments, 38 percent of Czechs invest their savings. A tenth of them considers investing through specialized companies to be a rational decision. Also, cryptocurrencies became a more popular trend with 13% of male and 5,4% of female respondents preferring it as a saving option.⠀
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#news #covid #coronavirus #media #corona #viral #breakingnews #noticias #politics #trending #new #info #tvl #business ⠀
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Czech Republic set to buy millions AstraZeneca vac Czech Republic set to buy millions AstraZeneca vaccines Denmark no longer wants.⠀
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Jan Hamáček, Minister of the Interior for the Czech Republic, has instructed the Czech ambassador in Denmark to inquire with Danish officials about purchasing AstraZeneca vaccines that the Western European country has now written off as dangerous. ⠀
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“Denmark has announced that it’s suspending the use of AstraZeneca vaccinations. I have instructed the Czech Ambassador in Copenhagen to contact the Danish authorities immediately and express the Czech Republic’s interest in purchasing all AstraZeneca vaccines from Denmark,” Hamáček said on Twitter. ⠀
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Danish officials recently announced they would be withdrawing all 2.4 million doses of the vaccine until further notice. The Danish Health Authority (DAN) said that their studies had shown a higher than normal occurrence of negative effects like blood clots and thrombosis, allegedly affecting about one in every 40,000 recipients.⠀
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Danish authorities have linked at least two cases of thrombosis to the vaccinations, one of them fatal for a 60-year old woman. Soren Brostrom, Director General of the DAN said that although it was a “difficult decision,” the country had other vaccines to choose from. ⠀
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“The upcoming target groups for vaccination are less likely to become severely ill from Covid-19,” he said. “We must weigh this against the fact that we now have a known risk of severe adverse effects from vaccination with AstraZeneca, even if the risk in absolute terms is slight.”⠀
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#news #covid #coronavirus #media #corona #viral #breakingnews #noticias #politics #trending #new #info #tvl #business ⠀
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Positive COVID-19 tests can be harmful to children Positive COVID-19 tests can be harmful to children’s mental health.⠀
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A positive result of a regular COVID-19 test can have negative effects on the child’s mental stability, according to the Olomouc clinical psychologist Adam Suchý.⠀
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One child’s positive COVID-19 test result can send the whole class into quarantine which can provoke bullying of the “guilty” student. Currently, some students returned to schools with regular testing conditions in effect from April 12. ⠀
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Suchý noted that after a year of lockdown, children are very excited to come back. They want to become a part of their social group again, but public testing and the possibility of negative results can make them feel isolated again.⠀
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“Children have no physical problems, they feel healthy, most of them are looking forward to school for friends and socialization, and suddenly, someone marks them as sick and dangerous to their surroundings,” Suchý explained.⠀
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Children who are not the leaders of the group might feel weak when other kids blame them for yet another quarantine. According to the psychologist, it is dangerous and wrong to create an atmosphere of disrespect because not every kid can handle it correctly.⠀
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Experts offered teachers to assure children that nothing bad will happen if the results come out positive and nobody will be blamed for that. Parents also should provide emotional support to their children.⠀
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#news #covid #coronavirus #media #corona #viral #breakingnews #noticias #politics #trending #new #info #tvl #business ⠀
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Czech Republic records the lowest number of new bu Czech Republic records the lowest number of new businesses in 12 years.⠀
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The Czech Republic saw a decrease of 11 percent in entrepreneurship in the last quarter compared with the last year’s results. Only 14 000 Czech entrepreneurs established their own new businesses which is the lowest result in 12 years.⠀
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People were not exceptionally hopeful about the first quarter of the year because they did not expect the restrictions to be over. However, according to CRIF (Czech Credit Bureau), the number of closed businesses was also low.⠀
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“In the first quarter of this year, people had little hope for an early easing of anti-epidemic measures. At the same time, they assumed that existing entrepreneurs are experiencing the worst period since the beginning of the pandemic,” CRIF analyst Věra Kameníčková explained. She added that people don’t have any confidence in the current economic situation.⠀
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The interest occurred to be low because many existing businesses operate through insufficient financial resources. Banks are reluctant to give loans, yet occasionally, crowdfunding companies can help.⠀
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“In such a situation, people’s willingness to start a new business naturally declined,” Kameníčková said.⠀
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#news #covid #coronavirus #media #corona #viral #breakingnews #noticias #politics #trending #new #info #tvl #business
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