Statutory city (Czech Republic)

In the Czech Republic, a statutory city (Czech: statutární město) is a municipal corporation that has been granted city status by Act of Parliament. It is more prestigious than the simple title město ("town"), which can be awarded by the cabinet and chair of the Chamber of Deputies to a municipality which applies for it.

Prague, capital of the Czech Republic
Brno
Ostrava
Plzeň

Differences of statutory city

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Statutory city status is partially ceremonial; the mayor is called primátor, rather than the starosta of other municipalities. Statutory cities are allowed to subdivide into self-governing city boroughs (sg. městský obvod) or city parts (sg. městská část) with their own elected councils; such a statutory city has to issue a statute (statut) that delimits power to boroughs. However, only seven statutory cities have done so. Cities Brno, Plzeň, Ústí nad Labem and Pardubice are divided into city boroughs, and Liberec has only one city borough with rest of the city being administered directly. Brno is divided into city parts, and Opava has eight city parts with rest of the city being administered directly. Also the capital of Prague, while not being de jure statutory city, is subdivided into similar self-governing boroughs.

History

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The model is derived from its common origin in Austria-Hungary. Until 1928, 11 cities in the Czech lands received the statutory city title: Prague, Liberec, Brno, Jihlava, Kroměříž, Olomouc, Uherské Hradiště, Znojmo, Opava, Frýdek, and Bielsko (which became a part of Poland in 1920). On 1 December 1928 their count was reduced to five (Prague, Liberec, Brno, Olomouc and Opava). In 1942 Plzeň became a statutory city.[1]

Between 1949 and 1967, the institute of statutory cities was canceled by reform in self-government and the establishment of regions. Only Prague remained a de facto statutory city. After 1967, several cities received similar position as Prague (Brno, Plzeň, Ostrava and Ústí nad Labem), but the statutory city title was not used.[1]

The concept was renewed after the fall of communism by the Act on Municipalities in 1990, which established 13 statutory cities in addition to Prague, the capital city which is still a de facto statutory city.[1]

Unlike Austria, before districts of the Czech Republic were abolished only the three largest cities (Brno, Ostrava and Plzeň) constituted a district (okres) on their own; the others were a part (though always a capital, except Havířov) of a district with smaller municipalities. As the prestige associated with statutory city status grew, 12 additional statutory cities were created by the Act on Municipalities in 2000[2] and its four later amendments.

There are only two statutory cities, Havířov and Třinec, that are not seats of their eponymous districts.

List

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Since August 2018, there are 26 statutory cities (plus Prague), comprising all the Czech cities over 40 thousand inhabitants (and Třinec):

Name Population[3] Area (km2) Region Statutory city since[1]
  Prague 1,384,732 496 Prague
  Brno 400,566 230 South Moravian 1990
  Ostrava 284,765 214 Moravian-Silesian 1990
  Plzeň 185,599 138 Plzeň 1990
  Liberec 107,982 106 Liberec 1990
  Olomouc 102,293 103 Olomouc 1990
  České Budějovice 97,377 56 South Bohemian 1990
  Hradec Králové 93,906 106 Hradec Králové 1990
  Pardubice 92,362 78 Pardubice 1990
  Ústí nad Labem 91,342 94 Ústí nad Labem 1990
  Zlín 74,255 103 Zlín 1990
  Havířov 69,694 32 Moravian-Silesian 1990
  Kladno 69,078 37 Central Bohemian 2000
  Most 63,882 87 Ústí nad Labem 2000
  Opava 55,600 91 Moravian-Silesian 1990
  Jihlava 53,986 88 Vysočina 2000
  Frýdek-Místek 53,938 52 Moravian-Silesian 2006
  Teplice 50,959 24 Ústí nad Labem 2003
  Karviná 49,724 57 Moravian-Silesian 2003
  Karlovy Vary 49,353 59 Karlovy Vary 1990
  Chomutov 47,023 29 Ústí nad Labem 2006
  Děčín 46,799 118 Ústí nad Labem 2006
  Mladá Boleslav 46,428 29 Central Bohemian 2003
  Jablonec nad Nisou 46,226 31 Liberec 2012
  Prostějov 43,563 39 Olomouc 2012
  Přerov 41,661 58 Olomouc 2006
  Třinec 34,266 85 Moravian-Silesian 2018

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Analýzy: Analýza rozsahu výkonu veřejné správy v jednotlivých statutárních městech, městských částech a městských obvodech". mvcr.cz (in Czech). Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. 2018. pp. 16–18.
  2. ^ Act on Municipalities (2000); Předpis č. 128/2000 Sb. Zákon o obcích (obecní zřízení) (in Czech)
  3. ^ "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2024". Czech Statistical Office. 2024-05-17.