Neoliberalisation or Neroisation: A Strange Tale of Privatisation of Prague Public Spaces

• In Event: Economy, Politics, and Aesthetics in Postsocialist Urban Transformation

Abstract

The paper focuses on the fate of public space in the early years of post-communist transformation in Prague. In particular, it examines the phenomenon of long-term leases of public space to private companies, which created a strange liminal regime between public and private use. The paper will explore how this method of privatisation through long-term leases has allowed for a variety of profit-making strategies (including 'neroisation', i.e. making a profit through arson) and political corruption, but also, paradoxically, in some cases has preserved public space in public use. The paper examines several prominent cases, with a particular focus on the former Park of Culture and Leisure.

Author

• Petr Roubal, Institute of Contemporary History CAS (Czech Republic)