Changes of the business environment in the sector of construction for residential purposes – a case study of the Czech Republic

The transformation of Czech economy after 1989 brought many substantial changes. Gradually, new organizational, institutional and legal frameworks were shaped for the operation of a market mechanism. Similar to a number of other branches, the construction industry transformed significantly. The first half of the 1990 was marked by the restructuring, privatization and subsequent internationalization, which continued in the second half of the decade. Opening of the market towards the west, and the internationalization have brought many innovations. They can be seen for example in the application of new technologies or the implementation of modern building materials. A typical example of these innovations is the boom in construction of low-energy houses. The paper also deals with the gradual change in the residential construction, characterized by the gradual departure from state directives in residential construction, to institutional support of entrepreneurship, to highly integrated residential development.This paper was elaborated under the project GA AV ČR IAA301670901 „Časoprostorová organizace denních urbánních systémů: analýza a hodnocení vybraných procesů“ and project IGA UP PrF_2011_006 „Krajina jako geosystém: změny v časové a prostorové struktuře a jejich hlavní mechanismy“ funded by the Faculty of Science, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic.