City architect: an adviser, not a civil servant

A municipality is the largest investor in and manager of public spaces within its area, but it usually does not have a specialist on its side. How do the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Copenhagen organise the role of city architect, what does the role entail, and how can smaller municipalities also make use of it?

As an investor, the municipality needs an expert on its side

The municipality is the largest investor in and manager of public spaces within its area. It makes decisions on town squares, streets, parks and public buildings, selects designers and approves proposals from private investors. However, for most of these decisions, it does not have its own expert. Officials deal with routine administrative tasks, councillors are not architects, and designers primarily advocate for their own proposals.

That is why European cities employ a role known in the Czech Republic as the ‘city architect’. This role is not recognised by Czech law. Chief architect’s offices were established in the early 1960s (Prague in 1961, Ostrava in 1963, Brno in 1965), but many towns and cities abolished them after 1989. Today, large cities have their own institutions, such as the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague or the Office of the City Architect of Brno. Most smaller municipalities do not have such a specialist on their side.

How it’s done elsewhere

In Europe, three models are common, often in combination:

Independent adviser. In the Netherlands, the municipality appoints a city architect (stadsbouwmeester) as a permanent adviser on spatial quality for a specific term. They may be a municipal employee or an external adviser. Bouwmeesters in Flanders and Brussels, or the city architect in Copenhagen, fulfil a similar role.
Advisory board. Since 1983, when Salzburg pioneered the practice, Austrian cities have been establishing architectural advisory boards (Gestaltungsbeirat). In Wels, these consist of three architects from other cities, who must not have any commissions in the locality, and one of them is replaced each year. Munich has a commission for urban design, whose meetings are open to the public, whilst Zurich has the Baukollegium.
Head of the planning department. In Germany, the local council elects a specialist in urban development (Stadtbaurat) to the city’s executive, who heads the planning and building authority.

The same applies in all models: the city architect advises, coordinates and monitors quality. The final decision always rests with the elected local authority.

What does a city architect do?

Six tasks emerge from European practice:

1. Formulates the agenda. Identifies what the municipality
needs, where the problems and the area’s assets lie, and what the priorities are.
2. **Prepares the brief
.** Before any investment, helps to clarify what the building or public space is intended to achieve, and sets this out as a binding brief
.
3. Recommends the method for selecting a designer. Whether to use a competition or a negotiated procedure, and what quality criteria to apply. They sit on selection panels.
4. Assesses projects. In a timely manner, ideally as early as the preliminary design stage, and according to clear criteria.
5. Coordinates. Liaises between council departments, investors, network operators and other institutions.
6. Explains. Helps to facilitate dialogue with residents and provides the council with justifiable supporting documentation.

What a city architect does not do

Equally important is what does not form part of the role:

- **They do not design for the municipality
** for which they carry out assessments. Otherwise, they would be assessing their own work.
- They do not make decisions. They make recommendations; decisions rest with the council and the local authority.
- They do not replace the planning authority. Quality is addressed prior to granting planning permission, not in its place.

When the role works

Both international experience and Czech debates agree on several conditions. A Dutch government study recommends that the following be set out in writing at the time of appointment:

the scope of duties and powers,
the term of office,
the relationship with the local authority, the council and the municipal assembly,
the budget for background documents and studies.

Austrian bodies add rules on conflicts of interest and involvement right from the planning stage. Munich demonstrates that public hearings strengthen trust. Czech specialist literature points out that appointing an architect will not, in itself, improve the quality of the environment. What matters is how the municipality
acts on their recommendations.

Smaller municipalities: specialist support as required

The role of town architect is best fulfilled by someone who knows the area well and has been working with the municipality for a long time. They know the history of the area, the people, the plans under development and the context that is not set out in any documentation. This is the main value of this role and the reason why towns abroad appoint someone to this post for several years.

However, most smaller Czech municipalities do not have a town architect and cannot afford to fund an entire department. Even without one, a municipality
can make use of external expert support for individual investment projects. Typically, this involves:

- a site analysis prior to investment,
- preparing a study or project brief
,
- recommendations on how to select a designer and participation on the selection panel,
- an expert assessment of the proposal or project,
- consultations for the council and the municipal assembly.

Municipalities that do have a town architect, in turn, often need to bolster their capacity for larger tasks: when preparing and awarding contracts or when carrying out expert analyses.

Recommendations for municipalities

1. Identify who is responsible for upholding quality on the municipality’s side. Even a small municipality
needs someone who can assess investments from a professional perspective and within their broader context.
2. Involve an expert from the outset. The brief
has the greatest influence on the outcome, not corrections to the finished project.
3. Set out the role in writing. The scope, rules on conflicts of interest and the procedure for submitting recommendations to the council and the municipal assembly.
4. Separate assessment from design. Anyone advising the municipality should not be responsible for the design work on the same project.
5. Where possible, build on long-term collaboration. A town architect who knows the municipality
is the most valuable asset. Where this role is lacking, make use of expert support for individual tasks with a clear brief.

## How KvalitaMísta
works

KvalitaMísta
does not replace the role of a town architect. For municipalities that do not have this role in place, we provide expert support for specific tasks to the extent required: site analyses, preparation of brief
, recommendations on how to select a designer, or assessment of a development proposal. For municipalities and town architects who are already active, we assist with the preparation and tendering of contracts and with the preparation of expert site analyses.

We agree the nature of the collaboration with each municipality based on a specific brief
, and at the outset we clearly define our role:

- Independent expert adviser. We carry out site analyses, help prepare the brief
, and guide the municipality
through the process from preparing the investment proposal right through to selecting a designer. In this role, we remain on the municipality’s side and do not produce designs.
- Designer. If a municipality commissions a specific design brief, we will carry it out as an architectural practice, with everything that this entails.

We do not combine both roles in the same project. Where we advise and assess for a municipality
, we do not design on its behalf.