The Association of Polish Cities is a nationwide local government organisation that represents the interests of more than 350 municipal governments, actively engages in activities that support local self-governance and decentralisation, and strives for better development of Polish cities. It carries out these tasks through: legislative lobbying, expert support, exchange of experience, promotion of cities, foreign cooperation and information and publishing activities.
The Association of Polish Cities was established in 1917 and already in the inter-war period it could boast of many achievements. After the Second World War, the activities of the Union of Polish Towns were disrupted. However, immediately after the first free local elections after the war (27 May 1990), there was an initiative to recreate the Association. Within a few months, the councils of almost 60 cities passed resolutions to join the Union and in January 1991, its Restoration Congress was held in Poznań - the Union's statutory seat. Today, 354 cities belong to the Association. They are home to over 78% of the country's urban population.
The Union's positions and draft amendments to laws on self-government, prepared by the Management Board or problem committees of the Union, are presented to the Joint Commission of the Government and Local Self-Government and its working groups, committees of the Sejm and Senate and relevant ministries. The union supports cities that apply to the Constitutional Tribunal in cases of legal solutions unfavourable to them. It also asks the President of the Republic of Poland not to sign laws. It prepares its own draft laws, e.g. the law on revitalisation or the package of draft laws on finance.
ZMP provides expert support to cities. It commissions legal expertise, conducts surveys, and enables the monitoring of public services through the new development version of the System of Local Government Analysis (SAS), established in 2019. Local Development Monitor (MRL). The MRL (https://monitorrozwoju.pl/) is a modern and freely available database of data extracted from public statistics and the Ministry of Finance that enables analysis of the development potential of municipalities and an overview of indicators on important sectors of municipal government activity. It is the only project of its kind in Poland (and the second in Europe, after Norway's KOSTRA) that assists city authorities in day-to-day and strategic management to such a broad extent.
The exchange of experience includes the presentation and dissemination of good practices from cities and the preparation of thematic conferences, seminars and workshops. Numerous projects carried out by ZMP for cities with external funding are used to promote interesting solutions. Currently, we are implementing projects concerning, among others: management in education, participation in spatial planning, higher quality of administration, monitoring of public services or partnerships between local government units. Since 2019, the Association has been implementing the largest training and advisory project in its history and the largest in Poland (also financed from EEA funds) for self-governments of small and medium-sized cities called 'Building the institutional capacity of medium-sized and small cities in Poland for the implementation of effective local development policies'. Following the substantive support of the Association and our experts, 29 cities were awarded investment grants in July 2021 by our main partner, the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy.
ZMP also implements campaigns jointly with cities (e.g. "Arrange your city yourself", #ThankYouEU, "One for all, all for one", "#CitieswithBusinesses"). Through participation in numerous national and international bodies, the Association strives to be an active and effective ambassador of local government affairs and a substantive partner for Polish cities. The Association represents the interests of member cities in European organisations bringing together local governments, such as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities CLRAE or the Committee of the Regions.
Find out more about ZMP at www.miasta.pl