"In our study, we pay attention to even the apparent little things such as, for instance, specific accesses to the water, or where and how banks should be maintained, mowed."
The developedstudy Město and voda 2020/City and Water 2020 is a strategic contemplation on opportunities offered by the presence of water streams in České Budějovice. The study focuses on the effort to turn the city, municipal developments as well as citizens’ attention to rivers because a river can be what links and strengthens the entire community. It is an elaboration of one of the key topics of the Strategic Plan of the City of České Budějovice for years 2017-2027.
The riverbanks were treated as a technical infrastructure in time, no matter whether citizens could use them or not. If citizens or visitors get close to the water, they still are far away from it. That is why in our study, we concentrate on the reshaping of riverbanks so that people could get close to the water, could live together with the river, and perceive it as a natural component of public space.
Exploiting their rivers, České Budějovice can get a new public space – an attractive embankment at Zátkovo nábřeží. Moreover, the study introduces a “Sunny Island” where the river Vltava’s bank is wide; this island could connect neighbourhoods on both Vltava banks much more. However, we do realize that it is important to perceive water not only with one’s eyes, but be able to enjoy it specifically, too. Therefore, we pay attention to the forms of the interconnection of the east and the western sections of the city over the river Vltava and the related design of the Jiráskovo nábřeží. If the project would be realized, citizens of České Budějovice could swim and cool in the very centre of the city.