Brno metropolitan area

The Brno metropolitan area (Brněnská metropolitní oblast) is the metropolitan area of the city of Brno in the Czech Republic. The metropolitan area has a population of 729,405 as of 2024. The metropolitan area is the third most populous urban area in the country.

Covering an area of 1,978 km² in the South Moravian Region, it comprises Brno and 183 surrounding municipalities, with a total population of over 700,000 as of 2023. The aim of establishing the Brno Metropolitan Area is cooperation between municipalities in coordinating strategic projects in transportation, education, environment, and social services. This cooperation is made possible by the European Commission's ITI tool – Integrated Territorial Investments.

ITI serves to address metropolitan problems requiring an integrated approach and cooperation among all municipalities. The Brno Metropolitan Area is one of three metropolitan areas defined in the Czech Republic's Regional Development Strategy 2021+.

History
During the First Republic era, Brno was administratively expanded in 1919 to include the cities of Královo Pole, Husovice, and 22 other municipalities. In 1983, the Brno Urban Regional Agglomeration was defined by a government resolution to establish urban regional agglomerations and urban regions. This was further delineated in the BSRA Urban Plan of 1985 and in subsequent studies and projects addressing noise assessment, metropolitan management, and agglomeration links.

In 2013, the functional area of the Brno Metropolitan Area was defined for the application of the ITI tool (Integrated Territorial Investments). In 2014, a Memorandum on Metropolitan Cooperation was signed between Brno and five municipalities, which was updated in 2018. In 2016, Brno joined the European METREX network, and in 2020, a new definition of the Brno Metropolitan Area was established for the period 2021+.

Significant projects include the URBACT II Joining Forces project in 2009, the international SPIMA project in 2017-2018, and the METRO project from 2020-2021. Additionally, Ivančice joined the Memorandum on Metropolitan Cooperation in 2020. The city's collaborative efforts aim to utilize European funding to tackle metropolitan issues through strategic and integrated projects.

Municipalities
The metropolitan area has 184 municipalities.