A decade of experience in implementation of numerous urban modernization projects in Poland resulted in a lively debate on socialization of the planning process, in which the matter of the public space quality has become the center of gravity. In those years, transformation from the classic administrative model of „bureaucracy planning” to the model of „management planning” has not been complete. The socialist primacy of the public...

Planning has a formal, legally defined component and an informal component developed in response to deficiencies in the planning system. Informal practices can contribute to the development of tools that would improve urban governance, especially in areas related to space. This article presents an overview of informal practices that have taken place in Polish cities and towns in recent years and offers an assessment of their impact...

Collaborative planning aims to increase the legitimacy of decision-making in spatial development. In this approach, planning involves debate and engagement in discourse, and participation and interaction between actors are thus at the heart of the planning process. This article examines whether the planning system in Poland as defined for the period 2003–2025 provides a level of participation and deliberation and other qualities...

The article presents the main assumptions of the project of Coastal Strip development in Gdansk. According to the authors best knowledge this is the first pro publico bono project in Poland in a large area of the city formed on the initiative of and elaborated by the city's inhabitants supported by two NGOs. Successive stages of the project preparation are discussed on the background of the shortcomings of Polish planning law...