The Effect of the Decision on Development Conditions on the Spatial Order of Polish Cities

The subject of the article is the institution of the decision on development conditions, regulated by the Spatial Planning and Development Act of 27th March 2003. In the perfect or even utopian system - as one may think – in current Polish conditions, the decision on planning conditions should be “merged in” the planning process. This process should respect the rules of the sustainable development of cities. Practically speaking, due to erratic legal regulations, the integrated cities' development strategies – even these created correct (according to the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities and the rules of the urban planning “art”) represent only propaganda value, useful only during election campaigns, or didactic value (which shows how “far away” from each other are noble ideas and bland practice). It has been six years since the signing of the Leipzig Charter, a period which was squandered in Polish conditions. There still exists a lack of legal instruments which could allow elimination of systemic causes of the existing pathologies in the spatial management of Polish cities. Some of these instruments are easy to introduce – e.g. the ones regarding the provision which states that the Study of conditions and directions of spatial development in a commune is of local law character. Others require a deeper afterthought – in order to take the experience of economically developed EU countries into account. This afterthought should regard the institution of the decision on development conditions, including i.e. the rules of delimiting the effect area, continuation of function or nearby properties.