The housing crisis requires new experts. The CTU Faculty of Architecture is launching a Planning and Development program

"The new Planning and Development study program is the faculty's natural response to the evolving needs of the market and the profession itself. Practice shows that urban development, spatial planning, and working with land value require specialized knowledge that goes beyond the traditional framework of architecture," says Dalibor Hlaváček, Dean of the CTU Faculty of Architecture. "Alongside the Architecture and Urbanism, Design, and Landscape Architecture study programs, we are expanding our offering to include a field that responds to contemporary challenges in urban development and real estate."

In Prague alone, there are 27 brownfields—former industrial sites where new neighborhoods can be created. Their transformation is exceptionally demanding. It requires experts who understand architecture, urban planning, and the economics of land development. They must be able to coordinate complex processes, set up cooperation between the public and private sectors, and work with various interests in the area. It is precisely the lack of such specialized experts that is one of the reasons why these areas are transforming slowly in the Czech Republic.

The new study program responds to these needs. Its graduates will find opportunities in both the public and private sectors. They can work as city architects, focus on spatial planning, prepare development strategies, or handle brownfield revitalization—for example, in institutions such as the Prague Institute of Planning and Development (IPR Prague). They will also find roles in real estate in project preparation and property portfolio management.

From the beginning, students will choose a specialization in either Spatial Planning or Real Estate Development. However, teaching in key subjects and studios will be shared. In this way, the faculty is reacting to the reality of practice, where spatial planning, urbanism, architecture, and real estate development overlap. One of the main themes of study will be affordable housing—from housing policy and financing models to property management and development.

"Our inspiration came from similar study programs in Western Europe, especially in the Netherlands and Switzerland. Colleagues from TU Delft, currently the top-rated architecture school in the EU, introduced this program back in the 1990s as a reaction to the need to educate not only architects who design buildings but also experts capable of designing and managing the processes of developing the built environment," says Prof. Michal Kohout, the guarantor of the new study program.

Foreign educators and practitioners will also be involved in teaching. One of them is Kees Christiaanse, Professor of Urbanism at ETH Zurich, whose name is associated, for example, with the transformation of the former harbor in Hamburg into the HafenCity district. "The most important thing when planning and implementing such complex projects is the integration of different areas of knowledge and cooperation with other professions. I call it a simultaneous game of chess—as if you were playing on several boards at once against many opponents; sometimes you move on one, sometimes on another, but you must keep playing with everyone," he says, describing the process of creating new urban districts.

The studies will also include a professional internship during which students will participate in real-world projects. For this purpose, the Faculty of Architecture has signed cooperation agreements with cities and professional organizations, such as IPR Prague and the Association of Developers. The goal is to link education with practice and allow students to gain experience and professional contacts during their studies.

The faculty will present the new program during the spring through three P+D Lunch Talks discussion sessions. The first meeting, titled "The Housing Crisis – Where Will We Live?", will take place on March 5th. This will be followed by discussions on March 12th, dedicated to high-speed rail and regional development, and on April 9th, focused on the carbon-neutral city. The Lunch Talks always take place from 1:00 PM in the atrium of the CTU Faculty of Architecture (Thákurova 9, Prague – Dejvice).

Graduates of bachelor's programs focusing on architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, or spatial planning, as well as programs in the field of civil engineering, can apply for the study program.