Abstract
The chapter focuses upon selected aspects of the discourse on public space in Prague from 2010 to 2014. It identifies the main actors, themes and motivations of particular groups. The field data, come from an investigation initiated by the non-governmental, not-for-profit institution, “Open City” and which the Institute of Ethnology, contributed to the discussions and analyses. The data were collected by the Institute of Ethnology in 2013, 2014 with the intention of identifying the ways city dwellers utilize as well as speak about public spaces. The aim of this chapter is to briefly summarize the discourse about public spaces by Prague’s inhabitants and to explain the basic motives behind their reasoning. Findings also indicate the important role of the neoliberal economy in transforming post-socialist cities and their institutions.
The chapter was created with the support of the Progress Q22, Anthropological Inquiries within Humanities, Natural a Historical Sciences. The terrain data from 2013 to half-year of 2014 was for a gathering with a joint project of the Institute of Ethnology of the ASCR, v.v.i. and Open City o.p.s. The analysis of the users and the usage of the urban public space of the Capital City of Prague. For assistance in collecting the data, I would like to thank Anežka Jiráková, Blanka Kissová and Marie Hlavičková, particularly then Veronika Beranská, who besides the collection of data edited the final report from the research and commented also on this text.
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Notes
- 1.
Focus Group June 15, 2014, participant A6.
- 2.
In the survey, which we conducted within our investigation on the theme of public space, the vast majority of those questioned stated that public spaces should be taken care of by the municipal authorities or the offices of the town districts or the owner, which in the case of public spaces is again “the city”. Answers of a different type appeared only exceptionally (Uherek et al. 2014: 27).
- 3.
The research was conducted in a questionnaire form on a sample of 1061 respondents on March 3–10, 2014.
- 4.
For instance in the senate elections on October 17–18, 2014, the voter turnout was 16.9% of qualified voters, the elections to the representation of communities and towns enjoyed greater interest, although 44.46% of qualified voters participated. See http://www.denik.cz/volby/komunalni/. Accessed October 19, 2014.
- 5.
Respondents answered an open question, they did not select from any list; the list was created only after the fact based on their responses.
- 6.
The Czech Republic currently is divided into 14 regions.
- 7.
In Prague was the share of unemployed in the ages 15–64 as of 31 July 2013 3.1%, whereas in the Czech Republic it was a total of 7.44%. In July of 2016 it was 3.89% whereas for the total of population in the Czech Republic it was 4.1%. There was also the second highest number of vacant positions in the Czech Republic here after the Central Bohemian region (16,627 vacant positions in June 2016) (Source of the data: Czech Statistical Office and Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR).
- 8.
The average monthly wages as of April 2016 were a total of CZK 32,934 in Prague. The average gross monthly wage in the Czech Republic in the first quarter of 2016 was at CZK 26,480 (Source of the data: Czech Statistical Office).
- 9.
Data as of 31 December 2014, Source of the data: Czech Statistical Office.
- 10.
http://www.praguewelcome.cz/cs/infocentrum-b2b/info-servis/praha-ve-statistikach/. Day accessed August 8, 2014; Statistický bulletin hl. m. Praha – první čtvrtletí 2016.
Calculated by Zdeněk Uherek based on data from the Czech Statistical Office.
- 11.
Part of the flats was also co-operation ownership.
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Uherek, Z. (2017). Discourse on Public Spaces: Praguers in the Process of Globalization Changes and the Neoliberal Economy. In: Krase, J., Uherek, Z. (eds) Diversity and Local Contexts. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53952-2_5
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