ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | GOVERNANCE | STRATEGIC PLANNING | TOURISM
Challenge
Enable better cooperation at the metropolitan level in key areas of development.
Solution
The Krakow Metropolis 2030 Strategy is a supra-local strategy developed by the Metropolia Krakowska Association for all the municipalities that are part of the Krakow metropolitan area and that aims to:
- “define the strategic goals for the sustainable development of the Krakow Metropolis;
- determine the directions of activities, further development cooperation and integration of the municipalities of the Krakow Metropolis;
- define the financial framework and sources of financing of the strategic goals for the development of the Krakow Metropolis until 2030;
- describe the model of coordination, monitoring and implementation of the tasks specified in the Strategy;” (metropoliakrakowska.pl)
The strategy was developed in a six step process. The first step involved gathering data on key socio-economic indicators, challenges, and spatial planning issues for all municipalities in the metropolitan area in order to form a diagnostic of the region. The second phase involved talking to local experts to better understand the local issues and to be able to conceive key areas of development. In the third phase, seven reports were produced devoted to each area of cooperation between the municipalities. Additional data was added to the reports that summarised the findings from the previous steps in order to have a deeper understanding of the metropolitan context.
The solutions for the identified problems were crafted in the fourth step of the process using the Design Thinking methodology and the foresight method. Interviews, expert panels and on-line consultations were part of this iterative process of designing the right solutions for the metropolitan area.
Developing the implementation system for the strategy included changes in the Statute of the Krakow Metropolis Association, adoption of action plans and detailed schedules for individual processes and directions as well as the creation of working teams for the metropolitan cooperation, all of which were done in the fifth step. Mapping the sources of financing available was done in the sixth and final step of the elaboration process.
The strategy touches on seven fields of cooperation: intelligent management, environment and space, mobility, economy, culture and leisure, education, social services. Intelligent management covers aspects of cooperation at a metropolitan level and offers solutions to create the principles, mechanisms and tools to implement the strategic objectives at a metropolitan level. The thematic area of environment and space focuses on the creation and adoption of a unified spatial development model for integrated spatial planning. In terms of mobility at the metropolitan level, the focus falls on the transport management system, cross-sector cooperation, integration of transport systems, high-quality, ecological and modern mobility infrastructure. From an economic perspective, the strategy supports the economic competitiveness of the region and offers a framework to increase the level of innovation for local companies. For the culture and leisure aspect, the strategy creates a map of preference of culture for citizens living in the metropolitan area needed in order to develop the leisure infrastructure but also draws, among others, on the importance of having a supra-local guide on cultural, recreational and sports events taking place in the communes. The education thematic area analizes pre-school care in the area, the infrastructure and the quality of educational services provided, but also the technical and industry specific education. The main goal is to provide the highest standards of education in the country. The last thematic area covered in the strategy, that of social services, focuses on ensuring the highest standard of social services in the country, covering social inclusion, health care, services for the elder generation, migration policy and housing.
All of the documents developed as part of the supralocal strategy can be found at the following link: https://metropoliakrakowska.pl/sektory/plan-rozwoju-20-30/publikacje
The strategy together with the annexes can be found at this link: https://metropoliakrakowska.pl/sektory/plan-rozwoju-20-30/strategia-metropolia-krakowska-2030
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About this resource
In 2021, the European Commission launched a pilot project to improve functional area approaches in the EU and has partnered with the World Bank to implement this initiative. As part of the project, the project team collaborated with 12 functional areas from seven EU countries, providing them with tailored technical support and assistance: Zagreb Urban Agglomeration (Croatia), Brno Metropolitan Area (Czech Republic), West Athens (Greece), Lake Balaton Area (Hungary), Kalisz-Ostrów Agglomeration, Kraków Metropolitan Area (Poland), Jiu Valley and Jiu Conurbation Functional Area, Caraș-Timiș Functional Area, Cluj Metropolitan Area, Oradea Metropolitan Area, West Ialomița Functional Area (Romania), and Trenčín Functional Area (Slovakia).
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