Land-use zone in a zoning plan (zone codes)

A land-use zone (plocha s rozdílným způsobem využití) is the basic unit of a Czech zoning plan. The plan covers the whole municipality with zones and assigns each a type of use, such as housing, public amenities, industry, greenery, transport or farmland. On the drawing a zone has a colour and a code; the text part sets its conditions: main use, permitted and prohibited uses, sometimes conditionally permitted uses, and spatial rules such as the maximum building height.

How to read a zone code

For plans drawn up in the uniform standard, the codes are set by Decree No. 157/2024 Coll. The first letter gives the group of zones and the second a more detailed type; further detail may follow after a dot. The most common groups:

• B housing, e.g. BV rural, BI individual houses and BH apartment buildings,
• O public amenities, e.g. OV public, OK commercial and OS sport,
• S mixed residential, e.g. SV rural and SC central,
• V industry and storage, e.g. VL light industry and VD small-scale production and services,
• Z greenery, P public spaces, D transport, T utilities,
• W water and water management, A agricultural, L forest, N natural, M mixed landscape.

Points to watch

• Older plans often use their own abbreviations and colours. The same code can mean different things in different municipalities, so the text part of the specific plan always decides.
• A zone is either stabilised, where the plan confirms the current use, or proposed, i.e. a development area or a redevelopment area, where the plan changes the use.
• A housing zone may also include related public amenities and other buildings that do not reduce the quality of the environment and residential comfort. The text of the plan sets out exactly what is permitted.
• Whether a specific building complies with the zone's conditions is decided by the building authority.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the land register show a different land type than the zoning plan?

The land register records the current state (e.g. arable land or garden), while the zoning plan sets how the land may be used. A field can therefore lie in a housing zone of the plan, and vice versa.

What does conditionally permitted use mean?

A use that is possible in the zone only if a condition set in the plan is met, for example that the building will not worsen noise in the surroundings. The building authority assesses the condition for the specific project.