News

The foyer of Ostrava’s New City Hall is currently home to an exhibition of photographs by the acclaimed Croatian photographer Fjodor Klarić capturing the unique beauty and fascination of the historic city of Split. This Adriatic port has been a partner city of Ostrava since 1976.

The actor Norbert Lichý (* 29. 12. 1964) passed away on 16 January at the age of 59. He was a much-loved presence on both stage and screen, and he was closely associated with his hometown Ostrava.

The former city slaughterhouse, dating from the 19th century, has been completely transformed by a bold project to convert it into a new home for Ostrava's PLATO contemporary art gallery. The project has now been chosen as the sole Czech representative in the shortlist of nominations for the Mies van der Rohe Award. The finalists will be announced in early February, and the award ceremony will be held in May 2024 at Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion.

Last year, more boys (2 211) than girls (2 151) were born in Ostrava; this continued the trend from 2022. The most popular names given to baby girls were Eliška, Stela (Stella), Ema (Emma), Amálie, Viktorie, Anna, Sofie, Rozálie, Tereza and Julie. The most popular boys’ names in 2023 were Jakub (the same as in 2022), Matyáš, Dominik, Jan, Teodor (Theodor, Theo, Teo), Michal, Martin, Filip, Samuel and Oliver. 

Ostrava is once again offering financial support for the creation of new apartments in non-residential buildings that have been vacant for a long time. Such conversion projects will help expand the range of affordable housing in the city. The funding programme is targeted at the renovation and revitalization of buildings that have demonstrably been vacant for long periods, and its focus is on providing affordable housing.

In 2022, the number of annual visitors to Ostrava’s Zoological Garden and Botanical Park surpassed 600 000 for the first time – with the record falling just a couple of days before the end of the year. This year (2023), visitor numbers passed the 600 000 mark two days earlier than in 2022. Will the zoo set a new record in 2023?

The first baby of 2024 born in Ostrava is a boy named Gabriel. The name is of Hebrew origin, meaning “God is powerful”. He was born on 1 January, just 39 minutes after midnight, at Ostrava’s University Hospital. Gabriel’s family lives in Ostrava-Jih, and he has a 2½ year-old brother.

In 2025, the Women’s World Floorball Championship will return to the Czech Republic after a twelve-year gap. Like last time, the host cities will be Brno and Ostrava, with the final round of games to be played at the Ostravar Arena. Financial support from the Moravian-Silesian Region and the City of Ostrava will be a key factor in the tournament’s success.

For several years now, children under age 3 experiencing crisis situations have not been placed in institutional care, but have instead been looked after by temporary foster carers. This year, foster carers in Ostrava have provided temporary care for 37 children, and a further 45 children have been placed with foster carers in other parts of the Moravian-Silesian Region. 

Ostrava has won the national ‘Bike to Work 2023’ award in recognition of the outstanding progress it has made in the field of sustainable mobility and infrastructure. As a prize, the city has received a brand-new bicycle service and repair station. Ostrava has participated in the ‘Bike to Work’ challenge for the past 10 years, and it has been the city-level organizer of the challenge for 6 years.

The Czech government has approved a proposal by the Ministry of Culture to list the New City Hall in Ostrava as a national cultural monument. Built between the world wars to replace the much older and smaller city hall (hence the word “new” in its name), it has become one of Ostrava’s most prominent and distinctive landmarks – and now it has been officially recognized as one of the most important historical buildings in the Czech Republic.

April 2023 saw the launch of the project “Strengthening metropolitan cooperation and governence in Central Europe”. The project will run for three years, and the City of Ostrava is participating in order to share knowledge and experience as well as gaining valuable feedback in the field of metropolitan cooperation.

When creating Ostrava’s new Strategic Plan, we haven’t only been asking for the opinions of local people and those who’ve lived in the city for many years. We’re also keen to hear the thoughts of expats – foreigners who may only have arrived in Ostrava recently, but whose international experience has the potential to make a huge contribution to our city’s development. Among these expats are Maryna and Alina Ivankova from Ukraine – a mother and daughter who last year opened the “Royal Candy” cake shop in Ostrava city centre.

The City of Ostrava has launched a new subsidy programme to help tackle the local housing shortage. The programme supports the creation of new apartments in residential or non-residential buildings that have been vacant for a long time, which will help increase the range of rental accommodation on the market (including affordable housing options).

This year’s “Friendly Local Authority” competition featured 130 Czech municipalities and Prague municipal districts. Run by the Interior Ministry, the competition has been held annually for the past 8 years. Its purpose is to identify which towns and cities are best at communicating with their citizens and providing user-friendly services.

The Czech Chamber of Architects has nominated the conversion of Ostrava’s city slaughterhouse for the Mies van der Rohe Award – the EU’s prize for contemporary architecture. The historic slaughterhouse has been transformed into the home of the PLATO art gallery. The winner of the award will be selected by the European Commission in conjunction with the Spanish Mies van der Rohe Foundation.

Ostrava is launching a new web portal where members of the public can find data about the city, clearly displayed in the form of interactive maps, visualizations, tables and other formats. The portal gives citizens easy access to key data about life in Ostrava.

On 11 October, the Czech developer Contera formally opened the new Organica building in Ostrava. The grand opening of this smart building was organized in conjunction with the Scandinavian IT giant Tietoevry, a key player in digital services and software development. The ceremony was also attended by leading political figures, including the Mayor of Ostrava and the Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

At the September session of the City Assembly, representatives approved a new municipal ordinance defining the coefficients that are used to calculate local property taxes. From 1 January 2024, the local coefficient for Ostrava will be set at 1.7 for zones of heavy industry. 

The project to modernize the Poruba Sports Centre is now complete, and the complex offers state-of-the-art modern facilities for a wide range of sports activities. The reconstruction work also created new roadways and walkways as well as all essential facilities for users.