Matúš Vallo

Matúš Vallo (born 18 September 1977) is a Slovak politician, architect, urban activist, musician, and the current Mayor of Bratislava. He was elected in 2018 with 36.5% of vote, and is an independent politician.[1]

Matúš Vallo
Vallo in 2017
Mayor of Bratislava
Assumed office
7 December 2018
Preceded byIvo Nesrovnal
Personal details
Born (1977-09-18) 18 September 1977
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
Political partyIndependent
Spouse(s)Linda Vallová
Children1
Alma materSlovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Ing.)
Columbia University

Education

Matúš Vallo went to secondary school in Rome, Italy. Throughout high school Matúš had a great interest for art and geometry, which he went on to combine through architecture. He graduated from The Faculty of Architecture at the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava in 2004.[2] In 2010—2011 he received a Fulbright research scholarship to attend Columbia University where he worked on a project called City Interventions at the Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting.[3] At the time he was also running his own architecture firm, Vallo Sadovsky Architects.

Mayor of Bratislava

2018 candidacy

Matúš Vallo was the first candidate to run for Bratislava mayor in the 2018 municipal elections.[4] Vallo ran for the post as an independent, but with the help and strong support of non-parliamentary political parties Progressive Slovakia and Spolu[5] backed by a group of experts called Team Vallo who have previously worked on project to improve the quality of life in Bratislava which resulted in a book, Plán Bratislava having been published.[6]

Vallo’s main rivals were Václav Mika, the former director of RTVS, the public broadcaster, and the then-mayor Ivo Nesrovnal.[7] During the campaign, Vallo vowed to improve the way the city administration communicates with citizens, make processes more transparent and engage more with the residents.[8][9] Vallo criticised then-mayor Nesrovnal for his inability to come to agreement with the members of the city council, leading to the deadlock in implementing the new parking policy, stagnating improvement of the cycling infrastructure and other issues.[10][11][12] He promised that if elected, he would improve co-operation between the magistrate, the city council and local administrations.

Mayoralty

Vallo was officially sworn in as the Bratislava mayor on 7 December 2018.[13]

Transport and parking policies

One of the first[14] policies Vallo started to work on was the parking policy delays with the implementation of which he has previously criticised[10] his predecessor for. His aim was decide on the framework the city borough and the city council will build upon, in the first half of 2019[15] Unlike Nesrovnal, Vallo expressed the opinion the rules should be uniform across the city, with a single company managing it. The original proposal[16] included residential parking zones in locations decided by the city boroughs. The yearly parking card for permanent residents would cost €49 for the first car, €150 for the second car and €500 for the third car. Without a parking card, hourly parking fees would incur in said zones. Bratislava would be divided in up to four zones with parking fees from €0.50/h to €2/h depending on the location. The parking card would be accepted only in the city borough the owner is a resident, but they would have up to 2 hours daily for visits outside of that city borough. Special rates would be payable by companies seated in Bratislava.

The proposal caused[17] some backlash, after which some changes were made. The cost of the yearly parking card was reduced to €39; additional €10 a year allow parking in other boroughs for a maximum of two hours.[18][19] The amended proposal has been approved by the city on 27 June 2020 and was expected to come into force in early 2021.

In October 2020 it was announced that the launch of the parking policy is delayed until the autumn of 2021.[20]

Metropolitan institute of Bratislava

Vallo initiated the establishment of the Metropolitan institute of Bratislava.[21] The Metropolitan institute’s mission is to develop plans, strategies and policies for the city, and to encourage participation of the citizens in the planning process and decision making.

The Metropolitan institute of Bratislava has developed the manifest and the manual for public spaces.[22]

Planning permissions review

Under Vallo, the review of planning permission became stricter, with more projects being rejected for ignoring requirements or trying to work them around.[23][24][25]

Other

Along with the capitals of the other Visegrád Group countries, Vallo signed the Pact of Free Cities to promote "common values of freedom, human dignity, democracy, equality, rule of law, social justice, tolerance and cultural diversity".[26]

Vallo supports the Bratislava Pride and has attended it both during his mayoral term and before.[27][28]

References
  1. "Novým primátorom Bratislavy bude Matúš Vallo – ako to prijali jeho súperi?" [Matúš Vallo will be the new mayor of Bratislava – how did the competitors react?]. Bratislavské noviny (in Slovak). Bratislava: NIVEL PLUS. TASR. 11 November 2018. ISSN 1336-362X. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  2. Ľudovít Petránsky. "Matúš Vallo: Dobrý verejný priestor je ten, v ktorom sú ľudia radi" [Matúš Vallo: A good public space is one where people feel good]. ASB.sk (in Slovak).
  3. "Matus Vallo | Fulbright Scholar Program (English)". Council for International Exchange of Scholars.
  4. "Bratislava has its first candidate for mayoral post". The Slovak Spectator. Bratislava: Petit Press. 14 February 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  5. "Šéf Progresívneho Slovenska: Za podporu Valla miesta v orgánoch nechceme". Trend týždenník. Bratislava: News and MediaHolding a.s. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  6. Matúš Vallo; et al. (2018). Plán Bratislava [Bratislava Plan]. Slovart. ISBN 978-80-55635-96-5.
  7. "Bratislava - Výsledky komunálnych volieb 2018" [Bratislava - Results of the 2018 municipal elections]. SME.
  8. "Volebný program Teamu Vallo". Archived from the original on 4 October 2018.
  9. "Vallo: I will face up to the people no matter what". The Slovak Spectator. Bratislava: Petit Press. 11 November 2018.
  10. "Vallo kritizoval Nesrovnala. Poukázal na hádky primátora s poslancami" [Vallo criticised Nesrovnal and his rows with the city council]. HNonline. 5 September 208.
  11. "Minúta po minúte: Komunálne voľby 2018". Denník N. 24 September 2018.
  12. "Matúš Vallo: Máme plán a môžeme zmeniť Bratislavu na lepšie mesto" [Matúš Vallo: We have a plan and we can make Bratislavu a better city]. Pravda.sk. 23 October 2018.
  13. "Vallo prevzal od Nesrovnala vedenie hlavného mesta" [Vallo takes over the capital city from Nesrovnal]. SME (in Slovak). 7 December 2018.
  14. "Parkovacia politika, ktorú schválilo predchádzajúce zastupiteľstvo, je podľa Valla akceptovateľná" [The parking policy agreed upon by the previous city council is acceptable according to Vallo]. SME (in Slovak). 26 December 2018.
  15. "Vallo chce parkovanie v Bratislave vyriešiť do pol roka" [Vallo wants to get the parking policy in Bratislava done in the next half-year]. SME (in Slovak). 7 January 2019.
  16. "Ako bude vyzerať parkovacia politika v Bratislave?" [How will the Bratislava parking policy look like?]. SME (in Slovak). 11 April 2019.
  17. "Nie je dôvod robiť paniku, tvrdí Vallo o parkovacej politike" [No need for panic, insists Vallo about the parking policy]. SME (in Slovak). 15 April 2019.
  18. "Bratislava's new parking policy. What will change?". The Slovak Spectator. 27 June 2019.
  19. "Bratislavskí poslanci jednohlasne schválili parkovaciu politiku" [Bratislava city council unanimously votes to approve the parking policy]. SME (in Slovak). 27 June 2019.
  20. "Bratislava postpones the launch of its new parking policy". The Slovak Spectator. 21 October 2020.
  21. "Bratislava's Metropolitan Institute will change the capital's look". The Slovak Spectator. 9 April 2020.
  22. "Bratislava chce vo verejnom priestore uprednostniť chodcov". SME (in Slovak). 10 December 2020.
  23. Vašuta, Tomáš (6 August 2019). "Hra na apartmány sa skončila. Vallo škrtá developerom projekty". SME.
  24. Vašuta, Tomáš (14 May 2020). "Bratislava sprísnila posudzovanie projektov. Pozrite si, ktoré neprešli". SME.
  25. Vašuta, Tomáš. "Primátor Vallo: Developeri na mňa tlačia. Čakal som to (rozhovor)" [Mayor Vallo: Developers keep pressing me. I expected this (interview)].
  26. Walker, Shaun (16 December 2019). "Islands in the illiberal storm: central European cities vow to stand together". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  27. "S ombudsmankou podporí Dúhový Pride aj primátor Vallo". SME (in Slovak). 16 July 2019.
  28. "Bratislava's Rainbow Pride to demand politics for the people". The Slovak Spectator. 16 July 2019.
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