The maximum independent set problem in planar graphs

We study the computational complexity of finding a maximum independent set of vertices in a planar graph. In general, this problem is known to be NP-hard. However, under certain restrictions it becomes polynomial-time solvable. We identify a graph parameter to which the complexity of the problem is sensible and produce a number of both negative (intractable) and positive (solvable in polynomial time) results, generalizing several known facts