The mayor of Devín, a historic village at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers in Western Slovakia, led a symbolic burial of the site to protest plans by Swedish developer Skanska to build almost two dozen new apartment blocks there.
Mayor Ľubica Kolková (above) is leading the fight against the developer because she says the new project will clash with the village’s rustic architecture. The estate will also add a thousand residents to Devín, doubling its population, without providing any new stores, schools or better routes to the capital, Bratislava, about 6 kilometers distant.
The protest was attended by about 200 people including various cultural celebrities, such as actress Zuzana Kronerová and opera singer Martin Malachovský.
The following week, Skanska representatives announced concessions, such as building several new parks in the housing estate. However, Kolková said that as long as the company still proposed to build 23 four-storey housing tenements, she would fight its plans. Skanska has broken ground on water and sewage systems, but has been unable to proceed further because Kolková is refusing to sign the necessary permits.
