Regional development principles (ZÚR)

Regional development principles (zásady územního rozvoje, ZÚR) are a Czech region's main planning document for guiding its territorial development and protecting the values of its territory. They are prepared for the whole region; the City of Prague has its own. The regional council issues them as a measure of a general nature. They sit between the national documents (the spatial development policy and the national territorial development plan) and the municipal zoning plans, which they bind.

What they contain

• the development concept of the region, its settlement structure and development areas and axes,
• development areas and corridors of supra-local importance, typically for bypasses, roads, railways, power lines or gas pipelines,
• public benefit constructions and public benefit measures for which land can be expropriated, and the regional system of ecological stability,
• land reserves for projects still being examined,
• requirements for municipal zoning plans, or a requirement to prepare a planning study for a selected area.

What it means for a buyer

ZÚR drawings are issued at a scale of 1:50,000, so corridors are not drawn on individual parcels. The municipal zoning plan takes them over and, where useful, refines them. Until a municipality brings its plan into line with new principles, decisions cannot be based on the parts of the plan that conflict with them. For plots near planned roads, railways or power lines it is therefore worth checking the ZÚR as well, not only the municipal plan.

Where to find them and how they change

The region publishes its principles on its website and they are uploaded to the National Spatial Planning Geoportal. They are changed step by step; earlier changes were called updates (e.g. Aktualizace č. 4), and a consolidated version is issued after each change. An amendment to the Building Act signed by the President in September 2026 entrusts the preparation of the principles to the region in its own competence from 1 January 2027; until then the regional office prepares them as delegated state administration.

Frequently asked questions

Can ZÚR affect building on my plot?

Yes. The principles do not decide on building permits themselves, but they bind the zoning plan and all decisions about the territory. A corridor for a road or railway in the ZÚR can therefore restrict building in the strip where it is to run, even if the municipal plan has not yet taken it over.