KLADNO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTION PLAN SWOT ANALYSIS 1

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1 KLADNO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTION PLAN SWOT ANALYSIS 1 The sub-commissions for (1) technical and (2) human related critical issues met on January 11, 2000 at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively to discuss the internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunit ies and threats as they relate to Kladno s most critical issues: (1) industrial zones / investment attraction, (2) transportation, (3) human resources and (4) quality of life / image. The subcomissions included both members of the strategic development commission and citizens involved in the Local Agenda 21 project. The meeting was chaired and facilitated by Tomas Vlasak and Jan Vozab of the Berman Group, the commission s consultants in the strategic planning project. The results of work in the subcommissions were submitted to the Strategic development commission for discussion, adoption and prioritizing among the strengths and weaknesses across all critical issues. INDUSTRIAL ZONES / INVESTMENT ATTRACTION Despite all kinds of problems, Kladno ranks as a city with a high growth potential, and is attractive for investment in industrial and services sectors due to a strong industrial tradition, technical skills of labor force and its proximity to Prague. The weaknesses in this particular area usually rela te to its inability to utilize the above mentioned potential and attract investment because there is lack of serviced sites available to accommodate incoming investment. 1/3of the city is an old potentially usable industrial zone; Foreign investments have already occurred in the city as a result of the state s investment incentives (the state proved to be willing to help); Located in the city is the headquarters of the Regional Development Agency that was created to attract investment and secure funding from EU; Recreational potential exists on the outskirts of Kladno; Strong technical tradition and skills, and associated schools; The potential of local businesses to increase exports. There is no single serviced site available for new external investment (Greenfield); Ecologic burdens and unclear future of the old industrial zone; former SONP site; Lack of an environmental audit of the old industrial zone area; No clear responsibility for the removal of environmental burdens existing in the old industrial zone area; A lack of clarity in the legal and ownership status of the old industrial zone limits its development; Inadequate promotion of Kladno and its local economic development opportunities; Inadequate quality of local workforce to accommodate high tech investment; Nonexistent access to financing for local businesses; Heavy traditional of local companies reliant on mine and steel mills; Nonexistent contact place for investors; lack of a One-stop Shop office to handle investment interest. 1 Source: Adapted from material prepared by the Berman Group, Czech Republic, for the United States Agency for International Development s (USAID) Slovakia LED Projects Conference on LED, June

2 Opportunities Restructuring of the steel works area; Creation of industrial zone in Buštehrad or any other neighboring municipality; Allocation of EU (ISPA fund) resources for addressing issues in the old industrial zone; Identification of ecologically undamaged sites in the old industrial zone; Start of the Environmental Audit and allocation of resources from the EU programmes; Tourism development in Kladno; Inclusion on the list of damaged regions with access to state support, interest rate free loans; Development of the Prague Ruzyne international airport; follow-up services and their attraction to Kladno and its surroundings. Unaddressed old environmental burdens; Transfer of low-skill requirement production further to the East because of lower labor costs; Lack of interest in the neighboring municipalities to build industrial zones to accommodate external investment. TRANSPORTATION The city s geographic location, proximity to the Prague international airport and easy access to two important highways were determined by the commission to be the most important strengths. At the same time, road transportation, in terms of getting to and leaving Kladno was mentioned many times as a weakness. Nonexistent or nonfunctioning key transportation infrastructure such as a ring road, bridges, elevations, public transport and parking lots were considered the most significant weaknesses of the city. Opportunities were anticipated to arise with the rapid development of the Prague international airport and the construction of further transportation infrastructure to the west of Prague. Proximity and easy access to Prague; Proximity and easy access to the international airport; Location between two highways; proximity to the Prague-Pilsen highway; Headquarters of at least two important spedition (road haulage) companies; Railroad system in the city that is available for transport needs of businesses in the northern part of the city; Existing plans for transport connections to the industrial zone. Nonexistent ring road; transit transportation goes through the city; There is no sufficient physical space in the inner city to accommodate transportation development; Inadequate traffic control and transportation system in the city; The Physical master plan does not consider connections to the northern highway; Poor state of transport planning, with inadequate system of internal communications in the city; Insufficient capacity of city s access roads; Nonexistent direct connection with the south-west part of Prague (Zlicin); Quality of public transportation between the Kladno-region and Kladno; Inadequate operations of the customs office leading to the slow processing of trucks going abroad; Inadequate capacity of inner-city roads serving the housing estates okrsek 0 and okrsek 2; Security of freight on the railway; 2

3 Flexibility of the railways, with low quality services in the national transportation section; Distance from the bus terminal to the railway station; Low quality of public transportation in the city; Nonexistent routes for cyclists; Poor state and/or non existence of side-walks that limits the movement of pedestrians. Opportunities Completion of the R6 road as it connects to the North Bohemian highway; Construction of the PRAK (Prague-Kladno) high speed train railway; Western ring road around Prague; Second rail and electrification of the Prague-Kladno railway connection; Construction of high capacity garage system in the city to address steady transportation issue; Higher accessibility of highways; Environmental improvements to the public transport system (removal of environmental damage caused by public transport); Creation of logistics terminal and hub for combined transportation. Traffic overflow in the area delineated by Mil. Horákové-Kociánova-Americká streets; Declining quality of railway transportation; Missing implementation of the plan to construct a ring road around Kladno; Slow down in construction of connection roads to high speed routes. HUMAN RESOURCES One of the biggest issues in Human Resources is the unchanged weak educational composition and structure of the Kladno population. A positive side is the active involvement and cooperation of local institutions including the Labor office, school authority and employers. Kladno s proximity to Prague is an important factor in this area as on one hand Prague attracts qualified labor force and on the other, there is a potential that in the future Kladno may become a satellite of Prague with a trend of people moving from Prague to Kladno. Cooperation of the School Authority and the Labor Office in addressing the parents about viable professions for their children; Demand of new businesses to employ technically skilled labor; Special requalification courses offered by the Labor office in cooperation with the employers; Level of existing job offers for women; Relatively stabilized situation in unemployment; common trend as in the country; Proximity of Prague and the offer of high and low qualification jobs. Low educational level of Kladno s population; low proportion of university graduates; low qualification of the labor force; Lack of sense for viable professions; Lack of interest in technical fields; inadequately high interest in managerial professions with insufficient application potential; Wrongly targeted demand for education; 3

4 Insufficient practical experience of graduates and school leavers and a lack of interest of businesses to enable practice for students and apprentices; Lack of a university in the city; Low level of motivation in the local labor force but high wage expectations; Lack of varied job offers for women; The illegal employment of foreign workers. Opportunities The neighboring municipalities may become residential areas for Prague. Proximity to Prague and the attraction of Kladno s qualified labor force; Selective decline in birth levels and a decline in Kladno s population; Nationally insufficient supply of accessible housing; bad conditions for family start-ups; Poor balance of the state s social support and minimum wages; Threat of migration out of the city. QUALITY OF LIFE / IMAGE OF THE CITY Kladno is a natural regional center for the area to the west of Prague and the location of institutions of regional importance, including a theater, library and the Regional Development Agency. Kladno is experiencing an improvement in the physical appearance of the city. Weak promotion of the positive aspects of living in Kladno and the nonexistent positive association with the city were claimed as the most significant weaknesses. Revitalization of the city center has commenced; A reconstructed city center with a pedestrian zone; Sufficient green space in the city (Sítenské valley, Podpruhonské valley a Panská hill, Zámecká garden); Green and wooded areas around the city offering the potential for recreation; Sufficient capacity of sport facilities in Kladno with an established sports company Sportovni in existence; Amateur cultural groups; Central Bohemian Theater scene; State Scientific Library; Lampion Theater; Accessibility of good quality medical services at Kladno Hospital and private facilities; Good internet promotion; Location of regional institutions: RDA, office of CzechInvest; Existence of the promotional monthly magazine Kladno 2000; The city has an established position as a regional center; Famous top sportsmen with support from the public sector. Nonexistent positive association with the city; Lack of nationally important events; Tradition of a city dependent on heavy industries employing an unskilled work force; Historically high levels of migration and employee turnover; Lack of local identity within Kladno; low activity in cooperation with famous people born in Kladno; 4

5 Low external promotion of the city with low awareness outside of Kladno; missing positive utilization of the mining tradition and promotion of historical parts of the city (Podpruhon area), mining museum; Poor state of some sports facilities in the city, unclear responsibility for up keeping areas for mass sport, overuse by extensive usage; Missing information system (from orientation in the city to transfer of information among the institutions), unclear information flows, nonfunctioning system of cooperation among institutions; Lack of respect for the rule of law; poor ability of the municipal police to keep order; Illegal waste dumps on the outskirts of the city; The museum s displayed collections are inadequate; Old industrial zone; current environmental burdens; High cost of operating the theaters and cinemas and associated threat of closure; Poor quality of public transport; and poor organization and integration with other forms of transportation; Insufficient parking; Concentration of socially problematic people and public debtors in one place; threat of ghetto developing. Opportunity RDA as a liaison among institutions for information and data interchange. Proximity of Prague as a cultural competitor; Social scene is in decline; continuing trend of social event places to closedown; Reduction to the levels of financing allocated for the support of culture. 5

6 KLADNO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTION PLAN STRATEGIC VISION On January 12, 2000 the Strategic Vision Task Force discussed the vision of the city that should lead the commission in their work on the strategic plan. The critical issues of the city s development will be addressed if the following vision is made a reality: Kladno as a city makes an effort to change the orientation of its economic structure for the third millennium, revitalize its environment and strengthen its position as an important regional center near Prague. The economic purpose of the above change is diversification of the city s economic structure to favor light production industries and logistical backup for the city of Prague and the nearby Ruzyne airport. This is related to the development of education with an emphasis on progressive technical occupations and language skills of the citizens. Revitalization of the city center will bring upgrading of its physical appearance and development of new functions, which will enhance its internal and external importance and create conditions to support the location of activities of a regional scope. One part of the Kladno Revitalization program is the preservation, renovation and enlargement of open green spaces in the city and its neighborhoods, creation of conditions for active recreation, and a rich offering of sports activities and facilities. The city intends to play an important role as a regional center for the area west of Prague and it will support the development of its natural regional functions. 6