Methodological Aspectsof Local Spatial Planning and Polish Legal Regulations

The article postulates that methodological aspects are often overlooked in the discussion of the crisis of urban planning in Poland which manifests itself in unrestrained urbanization. Such a thesis is supported by a retrospective overview of Polish spatial planning theory and law which leads the author to conclude that urban development planning has been in a methodological void since 1990 due to too strong a belief on the part of the reformers in the effectiveness of market and democracy mechanisms. The current legal regulations do not take into account the criteria of methodological rationality; in effect, municipal land use studies (the basis for land use plans) are not verified in terms of real development needs