The metropolitan law for Pomerania, which has been awaited for years, is expected to revolutionize public transportation, help local governments adapt to climate change. But the changes regarding spatial order will be less noticeable - the legislator has deprived metropolitan unions of stronger urban planning tools.
Local government officials from Pomerania have been pushing for the creation of a metropolitan association for years . Thanks to the law, it will be easier for municipalities, cities and counties to plan investments, public transport connections or promotion of the region. It's also about money: the creation of a metropolis would entail that each year Pomerania would be left with several hundred million zlotys, which currently go to the state budget. The funds could be used to carry out joint tasks.
metropolitan law getting closer
There are many indications that the dream of a metropolis will finally become a reality. In March, the draft Act on a metropolitan association in the Pomeranian Voivodeship and amendments to certain other laws was published in the list of legislative works of the Council of Ministers. The draft is a grassroots initiative of representatives of local governments affiliated with the Association of the Metropolitan Area of Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot (OMGGS) and the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Metropolis (GZM). According to the assumptions, it can be adopted by the government and referred to the Parliament in the second quarter of 2025.
I am satisfied with the current form of the law on the metropolitan association in the Pomeranian Voivodeship ," comments Prof. Jakub Szlachetko, a lawyer, chairman of the council of the Metropolitan Institute, and an expert who worked on the draft metropolitan law. - It represents a creative development of the so-called Silesian Law. Although as a proponent of tough local government reform, involving systemic reconstruction of the middle level of local government, I would simply prefer an amendment to the Law on County Government and a new metropolitan local government unit. However, I am aware of political, geopolitical or financial considerations that contest such intentions in the short term ," says Szlachetko.
He adds that the Metropolitan Law is a great opportunity for our cities, metropolises and the region.
The draft law stipulates that the metropolitan association will obligatorily carry out tasks in the following areas: development policy, development of spatial order, public mass transport in the area of the association, urban mobility, adaptation to climate change, promotion of the association and its area. Additional tasks include promoting employment, mitigating the effects of unemployment, supporting education and higher education, subsidizing research, among others.
A revolution in transportation
The biggest changes should be felt by residents of the metropolis in the organization of public transportation. Within a year of the formal establishment of the metropolis, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority is to be established.
The metropolitan association will become the organizer of public mass transportation , Professor Jakub Szlachetko stresses. - The new organizer will handle transportation in the area of the metropolitan union. On the one hand, it will be responsible for the so-called metropolitan passenger transport, while on the other hand it will take over the tasks and competencies of municipalities and counties. I suspect that certain issues, e.g. transport of children to schools, will still remain in the competence of municipalities, but other tasks should be taken over by the metropolitan union through agreements. The union will establish an integrated fare and ticket zone, which will include all transport organizers operating in the area of the union. The law's provisions will undoubtedly require local government officials to cooperate - the change will be felt.
The draft law on the metropolitan union in the Pomeranian Voivodeship included slightly more tasks than in the law for the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Metropolis created in 2017, where the integration and organization of transportation and urban mobility are of greatest importance.
We wanted to break this down and added tasks that were not in the Silesia Act. For example, the law provides for climate change adaptation and environmental protection, and in addition, as optional tasks, among others, cooperation with higher education, support for scientific research, as well as innovative industries," enumerates Prof. Jakub Szlachetko.
metropolitan law. What about spatial order?
The expert adds that changes regarding spatial order will be less noticeable.
The legislator removed the chapter on metropolitan spatial planning from the Law on Spatial Planning and Development. By doing so, it deprived the GZM and all future metropolitan unions of stronger urban planning tools. Although the law assumes the validity of the metropolitan association's development strategy, it is a light tool for urban impact. Changes of a systemic nature, for all functional areas, are necessary
- says Prof. Szlachetko.
Already in 2016, together with the Pomeranian governor, the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area (OMGGS), which today brings together 61 cities, municipalities and counties, unanimously decided on the desire to create a metropolitan union in the Tri-City area. The idea was supported by the academic and business communities. Trouble is, the plans backfired. The proposal remained unaddressed, stuck in the "parliamentary freezer" for two years, only to end up with MPs deciding to reject the first reading. To date, we have only one metropolitan association in Poland - the Upper Silesian-Zagłębi Metropolis (GZM), composed of 41 municipalities, established under the law of March 9, 2017.
