Prague is moving to green its streets with hundreds of trees engineered — through selection, not genetics — to survive the increasingly hostile conditions of a warming city.

The plan calls for planting 900 climate-resistant trees across the capital over the next ten years, alongside climbing plants on building facades, as the city braces for the accelerating effects of climate change.

The warming rate in Prague has nearly doubled over the past fifteen years compared to earlier measurements, according to a city climate report.

The effort is already underway. This year, the city planted 23 trees along V Cibulkách Street in Prague 5. The next target is Pod Strašnickou vinicí Street in Prague 10. Individual species will be monitored over fifteen years, after which only the hardiest performers will be replicated across the city.

Officials plan to use the findings to gradually replace existing urban trees — primarily lindens, maples, and acacias — which are increasingly struggling under current conditions.

A project four years in, with modest results so far.

The Klimastromy project launched in 2022, but the numbers on the ground have been slow to grow. Since its start, only 29 trees — elms — have been installed, at Ovocný trh and Strossmayerovo náměstí.

Beneath the surface, the obstacles multiply. Underground cables and pipelines constrain where trees can go. Heritage authorities regularly intervene.

“A specific question is whether heritage protection bodies will accept trees on streets where they have never historically grown. This is often a problem,” said Martin Fejfar, head of the Green Infrastructure Office at the Prague Planning and Development Institute.

Trees lower air temperature by roughly one degree Celsius — but in terms of perceived, felt temperature, the effect can reach five degrees. Leaf evaporation generates cooler shade.

Trees also trap dust, filter air, absorb noise, and have documented positive effects on mental wellbeing.

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