The municipal district of Prague 9 is one of the twenty-two large municipal districts of the capital and lies in its north-eastern part.

Prague 9 town hall on Sokolovská Street in Vysočany, 2007
Prague 9 town hall on Sokolovská Street in Vysočany, 2007Photo: Czech Wikipedia user Packa, 2007 · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

According to its own website, Prague 9 is one of the twenty-two large municipal districts of the capital. It lies in the north-eastern part of the city and comprises the cadastral areas of Vysočany and Prosek and parts of Střížkov, Libeň, Hrdlořezy and Hloubětín.[1] Its area is approximately 1,331 ha.[1]

Population

The number of inhabitants has been rising in recent years thanks to new construction. In 2025 the territory had more than 58,000 inhabitants. As of 1 July 2025 they included 9,032 foreign nationals.[1] The municipal district describes its population as diverse, with a growing number of young families and foreigners.[1]

History and landmarks

The district's website states that describing Prague 9 as an industrial part of the city is no longer justified and that it is a district through which national history has passed.[1] According to legend, on 13 June 970 Duke Boleslaus II was returning from Stará Boleslav, where he had visited the grave of his uncle St Wenceslaus. He chose a shorter but more strenuous route through the forest, fell asleep at the site of present-day Prosek, and in a dream his uncle ordered him to have a church built there. The Roman Catholic Church of St Wenceslaus therefore stands at the edge of the Prosek housing estate. A Romanesque basilica actually stood there probably from the second half of the 11th century.[1]

The neo-Renaissance building of the Vysočany town hall was built to his own plans by the Vysočany builder and architect Václav Haase. Construction began in 1910 and ended at the end of 1911, as shown by a weathervane stamped with the year 1911. The town hall was taken into use on 17 January 1912 and serves its purpose to this day.[1]

Transformation of the area

The central part of Vysočany, from the town hall to the Vysočany railway station, was demolished shortly before 1989 and gradually built over with residential and office buildings. According to the website, Sokolovská Street from Podviní park to Palmovka, where the workers' houses designed by the architect J. Chochol stand in U Školičky Street, already suggests the proximity of the centre of a large city.[1]

From the beginning of the 21st century Vysočany and Libeň developed rapidly on the sites of abandoned factories. On the border of the two districts, the O2 arena, the O2 universum multifunctional centre and the Stages Hotel Prague were built on the site of the former ČKD Lokomotivka works.[1] Some functionalist factory halls have been reconstructed and serve as flats, for example Lofty Kolbenova, or as cultural centres, for example Pragovka Gallery and Beseder Gallery.[1]

Housing

The municipal district offers various forms of housing. In Prosek, for example, prefabricated panel blocks from the second half of the 20th century predominate.[1]

In the October 2026 elections to the municipal council, the Spolu pro Prahu 9 coalition (ODS, TOP 09) won over 42 per cent of the vote and 15 of 33 seats. [2]

Six groupings entered the council: STAN won five seats, Praha 9 sobě and ANO four each, the Czech Pirate Party three and SPD two. [2]

Mayor Tomáš Portlík (ODS) said after the elections that coalition talks were only beginning and that he would not hold several offices at once; according to Blesk.cz, whether he remains mayor also depends on negotiations at Prague City Hall. [2]

In the Prague 9 Senate constituency, Senator David Smoljak (STAN) won 48.92 per cent of the vote in the first round and Dagmar Pecková (ODS) 23.06 per cent, on a turnout of 44.77 per cent; both were due to advance to the second round. [3] Technická správa komunikací plans full operation on the entire reconstructed section by 30 November 2026. [8] From 12 to 23 October 2026, as part of the final stage of the reconstruction of the Kbelská–D8 junction, the exit ramp to Veselská Street is closed and traffic on Kbelská is routed in a single lane in this section. [8] According to an analysis by Seznam Zprávy, the ANO candidate in the Prague 9 constituency finished well behind the result that corresponded to the movement's overall support. [7] Dagmar Pecková is an opera singer and a newcomer to politics. [6] Smoljak has been a senator since the by-election in 2019. [6] David Smoljak's candidacy in the constituency was supported by the Pirates, TOP 09, the Christian Democrats, the Greens, SEN 21 and the LES movement. [5] Before the 2026 elections the Prague 9 town hall was led by a coalition of ODS, TOP 09, Praha 9 sobě and STAN. [4]

Chronology

  • — Construction of a new building for the GAELY grammar school and economic lyceum began in Vysočany in Prague 9; it is meant to raise the school's capacity to up to 360 students and to be finished in summer 2028. → Pražský patriot Pražský deník

Pages linking here

Sources

  1. Městská část Praha 9
  2. Blesk.cz — 12 October 2026
  3. ČT24: regiony — 11 October 2026
  4. Pražský deník — 12 October 2026
  5. Pražský patriot — 11 October 2026
  6. Novinky.cz — 11 October 2026
  7. Seznam Zprávy — 12 October 2026
  8. Pražský deník — 12 October 2026