Cyril Dejanovski: Prague is Not a "Doughnut City"

In his presentation, Dejanovski questioned the view that significant numbers of Prague residents have been moving out of the city center into more peripheral city locations. Prague – unlike many Western cities – therefore cannot be characterized as a “doughnut city”. Dejanovski emphasized that we in fact are currently witnessing the opposite trend, namely that better-off people are interested in living in the city center as they wish to have the city center’s conveniences and rich cultural, social and culinary scene at hand.

The increased demand for housing in the city center creates strong upward pressure on property prices and the rents in this location. The prices of apartments have been growing here, according to Dejanovski, by 10 to 15% p.a. in the last 18 months, the rental increase has been even more dramatic, reaching 20% p.a. when it comes to new builds and newly finished renovations. Dejanovski explained that the growth of rents in the broader center of Prague results from an increased demand for rental housing among young Czechs, members of the millennial generation. Unlike their parents, millennials are less focused on ownership and thus usually prefer rental housing. At the same time, their lifestyle demands predetermine that they live in the broader center of Prague.