Prague, capital of the Czech Republic
Brno
Ostrava
Plzeň

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.

Differences of statutory city

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 iure statutory city, is subdivided into similar self-governing boroughs.

History

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

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]
Prague1,357,326496Prague
Brno396,101230South Moravian1990
Ostrava283,504214Moravian-Silesian1990
Plzeň181,240138Plzeň1990
Liberec107,389106Liberec1990
Olomouc101,825103Olomouc1990
České Budějovice96,41756South Bohemian1990
Hradec Králové93,506106Hradec Králové1990
Pardubice92,14978Pardubice1990
Ústí nad Labem91,96394Ústí nad Labem1990
Zlín74,191103Zlín1990
Havířov70,24532Moravian-Silesian1990
Kladno68,43637Central Bohemian2000
Most63,85687Ústí nad Labem2000
Opava55,51291Moravian-Silesian1990
Frýdek-Místek54,18852Moravian-Silesian2006
Jihlava52,54888Vysočina2000
Teplice50,84324Ústí nad Labem2003
Karviná50,17257Moravian-Silesian2003
Karlovy Vary49,04359Karlovy Vary1990
Děčín47,180118Ústí nad Labem2006
Chomutov46,94029Ústí nad Labem2006
Jablonec nad Nisou45,83031Liberec2012
Mladá Boleslav45,00029Central Bohemian2003
Prostějov43,55139Olomouc2012
Přerov41,63458Olomouc2006
Třinec34,30685Moravian-Silesian2018

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "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 2023". Czech Statistical Office. 2023-05-23.
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