Deputy Mayor of Prague 4 Jan Hušbauer, the ANO movement’s candidate for Mayor of Prague in the autumn elections, was born and raised in Prague, loves the city and understands it. Sport taught him perseverance and teamwork, while his experience in business taught him responsibility for results. He wants to bring the same approach to Prague City Hall.
Where did you grow up in Prague, and how did you perceive the pulse of the city and its development?
I was born and raised in Prague, and I spent a large part of my childhood on football pitches. For a long time, therefore, I did not get to know Prague from a map, but through journeys to training sessions and matches and the places where my friends and I used to meet. Only with hindsight do you see how quickly the city has changed. We have new opportunities, more modern transport and more services, but at the same time, affordability and simplicity are disappearing from everyday life. Housing is becoming increasingly out of reach for young families, parking has turned into a daily struggle, and many sports facilities and public spaces have aged without proper renovation. That is why I do not see Prague as merely its historic centre and a few major construction projects. It is a collection of individual neighbourhoods where people live, raise children, play sports and spend their free time. In local politics, you must not get lost in numbers, strategies and visualisations. You must always see the individual Prague resident who uses the city every day and whose life shows whether Prague really works.
In 2017, you became an executive director and partner of V&M Agency, which represents football players. Is there enough money for sport and young talent?
The money is there, but Prague does not know how to invest it in sport quickly and effectively enough. For 2026, it allocated around CZK 480 million to its main sports grant programme. Ostrava distributed almost CZK 196 million. Although Prague has approximately five times the population, its grant support is not even two and a half times higher. Per capita, Ostrava therefore spends roughly twice as much on these programmes. In Prague 4, we increased the amount of sports grants by more than sixty per cent this year because we know that the money must reach the clubs, children and coaches who are actually involved in sport. But it is not only about grants. Clubs tell us that they have people interested in joining, coaches and energy, but nowhere to train. School gyms and sports grounds meet some of these needs, but their capacity is insufficient. Prague has hundreds of school sports facilities that could be made more accessible in the afternoons and at weekends, but simply opening schools will not solve the problem. According to our data, there are sixty-five locations in Prague where sports facilities are lacking, while other municipal pitches, halls and stadiums are gradually deteriorating. That is why we want to create a municipal fund for the rapid construction of simple prefabricated multifunctional halls. Prague has the land, the money and municipal districts ready to build. A prefabricated hall can cost approximately half as much as a conventional building and can be completed within months, rather than ten years. At the same time, we will publish information on the condition of the sports facilities owned by the city and allocate an additional CZK 1 billion annually to a binding plan for their renovation. Prague has more than CZK 200 billion in its accounts. It is unacceptable for its sports facilities to be deteriorating at the same time, for clubs to be turning children away because of a lack of space, and for the number of children who do not get enough exercise and have problems with excess weight to be increasing. Every koruna invested in children’s sport is the cheapest form of prevention.
You are ANO’s leading candidate for mayor. What would you do in your first days in office?
Shake things up at City Hall. We will review which of the prepared projects make sense, which can quickly be dusted off and updated, and which need to be stopped because they will bring no benefit to people. I do not want a 150-day grace period. Prague has no time for another period of getting acquainted with the office and explaining why something cannot be done. We will start immediately. For every key area, we will prepare an action plan with specific projects. Every important promise will have a deadline, secured funding and the name of the person responsible for it, including the mayor. I want, after four years, to see completed and handed-over flats, new parking spaces, renovated schools, safer streets and completed construction projects. Not more tonnes of visualisations and press releases like those the current coalition is leaving behind.
Which specific areas will take priority?
Affordable housing and the actual construction of municipal flats, transport and parking, security and public order, schools and sports facilities, the regeneration of housing estates and public spaces, as well as care for seniors. We will get stalled projects moving, use standardised and modular construction, and involve both municipal districts and the private sector. In transport, the City Ring Road must be the investment priority, along with an end to uncoordinated road closures. For seniors, we will increase the capacity of care homes and special-regime care facilities. Prague has capable people and enough money. It is one of the five wealthiest regions in the European Union. It needs conventional managerial governance and leadership that will take responsibility for results. Money is not the problem – the problem is that the city is not getting the job done.
One of the major issues is security. People feel that Prague is no longer as safe as it used to be. What can be done about it?
Security is not just a statistic. It is the feeling of a parent sending their child to school alone, or of a woman returning home from work in the evening. That is why we want to put more municipal police officers back on the streets. That means at metro stations, on housing estates, in parks and in problem areas. Administrative work can be done by civilian staff. A trained municipal police officer should not spend most of their shift sitting in an office. Conflict-prevention teams must help keep the city centre calm at night. We will also support restrictions on the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. outside bars and restaurants, as well as strict enforcement of the ban on drinking in places where it already applies. Drugs are a separate issue. Here, we need zero tolerance in public spaces while also providing genuine prevention in schools. We will also adopt an ordinance against intrusive, aggressive and organised begging in the historic centre, at metro stations, at public transport stops and near schools, so that municipal police officers can intervene immediately.
CV BOX
Jan Hušbauer (born on 8 July 1988 in Prague) is Deputy Mayor of Prague 4 for the ANO movement and a member of the Prague City Assembly.
He studied business and subsequently continued his studies with a focus on people management, operations, communication, security and new technologies.
From 2008, he worked at Prague British International School. In 2012, he completed a course at FM Institute, s. r. o. From 2015 to 2017, he was executive director and partner of Lion Facility & Services, s. r. o., and at the end of 2017 he became executive director and partner of V&M Agency.
In 2018, he was elected to the Prague 4 Municipal Assembly. He was also successful in the 2022 elections and was elected non-executive deputy mayor responsible for investments. At the same time, he became a member of the Prague City Assembly.
In June 2026, he was elected chairman of ANO’s Prague organisation and also became the party’s lead candidate for the autumn municipal elections.
In his free time, he enjoys sport, including golf, football and running, as well as travelling. His brother is former Czech international and Sparta Prague player Josef Hušbauer, who now plays for Příbram.
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