Abstract Lewkowicz

Metropolitan Areas in Poland: In Search of a New Form of Local Government after a Decade of Reform

Jacek Lewicki

Abstract: The boundaries of functional areas (especially metropolitan ones) crossed the administrative divisions of central cities a long time ago. Twenty years after the collapse of the communist regime, ten years since the beginning of an administrative reform and fi ve years of EU membership, a problem of governance in these areas has become an absorbing issue on the Polish political scene. In the 1990s building a system of local and regional government was a crucial part of democratization process. Nowadays effective local authorities, especially in the biggest cities, constitute a basis of economic growth. The article dwells on the role of metropolitan areas in the development of Polish regions. It reveals a crucial role of effective metropolitan management in regional and national development Poland (especially under the conditions of innovative economy) and the effects of the position of metropolitan areas’ authorities on public administration in Poland.

Keywords: Metropolitan areas, Poland, city, local and regional government, development