Polityki miejskie

The main subject of this article is the changing status of cities in the contemporary world, and the consequent necessity of creating and implementing coherent urban policies. The authors analyse the changing economical, political and socio‑cultural contexts in macro dimension, which opens new development possibilities for contemporary cities. The authors pay particular attention to the case of Poland, emphasizing the consequences of omissions in the formation of coherent urban policies. In the scenario where there are no such policies, Polish cities become vulnerable to the inconsiderate exploitation of the global capital, as well as to the dominance of short‑term interests of the local political elites undercutting their subjectivity, and thus block the process of the modernization of Poland.