Public Participation in Planning Processes Under the Confinement Regime: Perspectives of Municipality Urban Planning Offices in Poland

2020

The lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic (March – June 2020) affected not only the economy, but also the functioning of the administration, and thus procedures connected with spatial planning. Spatial planning at the local level, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity enshrined in the Polish constitution, belongs to the so-called “commune’s own tasks”1. Formal spatial planning procedures in Poland, equipped with administrative, technical consulting apparatus, were subjected to stress testing during the pandemic. The crisis situation not only highlighted their weaknesses unprecedentedly, but also showed new opportunities and caused changes in conducting procedures. The di…