Metropolises are an open project. Metropolitan district as the development direction

The first five years of Metropolis GZM have been concluded with two positive evaluations – by the Supreme Audit Office and the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.

Both studies point out that the creation of this first Polish metropolis contributed to improving the quality of public service provision and management, particularly in the area of public transport organisation. 

These evaluations were actually declared already when the GZM was established. Their recommendations can be used to identify prospects for the creation of further metropolitan unions in Poland. 

Metropolises improve quality of life 

One common conclusion emerges from both studies: metropolises are an ongoing process. It should be accompanied by the parallel development of national legislation. In this way, it is possible to ensure the deepening of integration between municipalities. 

Therefore, the status of a “metropolitan union” is the first stage of this integration. The next should be the transformation into “metropolises with administrative district rights (in Poland – poviat rights)” and then “metropolises with city rights”, respectively. 

Single city is the culmination of the process 

The metropolis as a single city sounds great, but it is the culmination of this process. Thanks to our activities, support for the single-city idea has greatly increased, but we can see that there are still quite a few people who have concerns about it. 

One of the reasons for this is a strong attachment to local identity. This is why I see a major opportunity in the creation of a metropolitan district. 

Metropolitan district 

The idea – in the simplest terms – is that metropolises should be given the opportunity to carry out tasks that are statutorily assigned to administrative districts. 

This means that the individual cities forming the union would continue to carry out the tasks of the municipality. They are the most effective at this and the closest to the residents. 

On the other hand, the tasks of the districts – even in the case of cities with district rights – should ultimately be transferred to the metropolis. 

District would relieve budgets 

This is already partially happening with the GZM. However, not “as a rule”, but by concluding separate agreements with municipalities on a case-by-case basis. This also affects the budgets of the municipalities, as such tasks cannot be funded directly by the metropolis. 

The most obvious such service is transport. We cannot imagine each city organising it independently. The same can be – and should be – true of health care, waste management, etc. It is a kind of compromise to provide the best possible services to residents. 

Kazimierz Karolczak
Chair of the Management Board 
of Metropolis GZM