Ninety percent of Prague residents are interested in what is happening in the capital city. They consider it a good place to live. However, most of them tend to criticize the current city hall leadership. Problems include high rental and property prices, traffic jams, homelessness, drugs, and related issues. The findings come from a new survey by the STEM/MARK agency for the Strategeo Institute and its Prague Agenda.
Prague residents are mostly satisfied with the quality of life in the metropolis. The main dividing line between those who are satisfied and those who are not is primarily the political party they are considering voting for in the municipal elections.
People who intend to vote in Prague for one of the parties of the current (national) governing coalition criticize the quality of life in Prague more often. On the other hand, people who plan to vote in the Prague municipal elections for one of the (national) opposition parties more often say that they are satisfied with the quality of life.
The STEM/MARK survey for the Strategeo Institute further shows that respondents have not been convinced by the current city leadership. Only one third of respondents rate it positively. One percent of people are very satisfied, 32% of Prague residents are rather satisfied. Another 34% of respondents are rather dissatisfied. Fourteen percent of respondents are very dissatisfied.
Men, people over the age of 60, and those who are considering voting in Prague for parties of the national governing coalition are more often dissatisfied. Slightly more satisfied are people aged 18–29 and those who plan to vote in Prague for parties of the former national five-party coalition.
The researchers also asked residents about the problems that concern them in individual areas. In the housing segment, 70% of people state that the biggest problem is high rental and property prices.
In transport, Prague residents are bothered by traffic jams and overloaded roads, according to 51% of respondents. The same number of people in the area of safety and public order complain about drugs and related problems in some locations. “The problem of unadaptable citizens is also increasing,” added Tomáš Rychecký, director of STEM/MARK.
Every second respondent also stated that in the area of sports there is significant technical debt and neglect of sports infrastructure.
In public spaces, four out of ten residents of the metropolis are bothered by long-lasting and uncoordinated reconstructions. In tourism, one third of people perceive the commercialization of the city’s historic areas negatively; criticism is also directed at noise and disorder in heavily frequented locations.
Nine out of ten Prague residents follow what is happening in the city, and one third of the metropolis’s residents are active in socio-political affairs. Prague residents would rather recommend the metropolis as a place to live. They rate public transport and urban greenery positively. Those who would not recommend it are more often seniors and people over 60, people with only basic education, and also more often women.
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Photo: UNESCO, Jaroslav Horák