Kraków, together with neighboring municipalities, is trying to create a metropolitan union — what would this institution change? A great deal, but its future depends on the parlament and Senate.
In mid-July this year. The Polish Senate, with lobbying by Senator Bogdan Klich, passed a metropolitan law for Kraków. Its purpose would be to transform the Krakow Metropolis association into a metropolitan association, similar to the GZM (Górnośląska Zagłębiowska Metropolia). What would this change mean for Kraków and its neighboring municipalities?
Big money and ambitious plans
Creating a metropolitan association on the basis of the one that has been in existence for nine years would first of all mean an increase in the share of PIT income tax revenues. Revenues would mean an additional about 360-370 million a year. The metropolis would not only provide more money for Kraków and neighboring municipalities, but also the opportunity to conduct joint spatial policies, transport projects or spread the fight against air pollution.
The metropolis would consist of Krakow and fourteen municipalities around the city
© Krakow Metropolis
It's true that the amount of 370 million zloty in relation to Kraków's budget of nearly 8 billion zloty this year is a modest sum, but it is an important contribution in terms of continuing a number of agglomeration initiatives already undertaken, such as the extension of streetcar lines to these neighboring municipalities," said Deputy Mayor of Kraków Jerzy Muzyk.
common vision and strategy
The Krakow Metropolis Association was established nine years ago, although work on creating a common vision lasted even longer. In 2021, a document was officially passed, the "Strategy of the Kraków Metropolis until 2030." It was in it that the seven most important zones to which the metropolis would provide financial support were listed. The document included categories like Environment and Space, Mobility, Social Services, Education, Leisure Culture, Economy, and Smart Management.
Many of the problems that arise from bureaucratic fragmentation and lack of elementary power capabilities, the shaping of which cannot go beyond the city, could be reduced by the existence of the Kraków Metropolis. The question of the legitimacy of this solution remains open the moment it would be introduced — in which case it would also need to be voted on by the Parlament and signed by the President of Poland.
this is how the metropolis wants to achieve its goals
© Krakow Metropolis
election game
The bill passed with the votes of senators from the Senate pact, while the Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość) club opposed the bill. The vote against the Kraków metropolis may serve as another argument against Poland's ruling party in the parliamentary elections, as well as in local elections the following year. The attempt to create another metropolitan center competing with Warsaw has been Kraków's plan for many years, and attempts to put the brakes on this process may be received negatively in the city and county.
planned expenditures of the metropolis until 2030
© Krakow Metropolis
The future of the Kraków Metropolis is now in the hands of the Sejm and the President — with political decisions likely to shape voter preferences, it is difficult to predict what decision-makers will actually decide on.
