Technological challenges associated with land-use policies in Polish cities and towns

Motives: Land-use policies are legal instruments that are available to local governments. Modern land-use policies require specialized software and spatial data. A survey was conducted in the cities and towns of two Polish regions, and the results were used to describe the challenges facing local authorities in relation to land-use planning. Aims: The main aim of this study was to verify the use of spatial data formats and specialist software in the decision-making process in Polish cities and towns. The survey revealed differences in spatial data formats used by the analysed cities and towns. The research goal was achieved in the entire study group and in groups of differently sized cities. Results: The challenges and implications for land-use policy and decision-making in cities and towns were discussed. The survey revealed differences in the way specialist software is used in land-use planning in the analysed towns and cities. The use of open-source software was examined, and the study demonstrated that georeferenced spatial data is generally lacking. The present findings can be used by the authorities to improve the process of formulating their land-use policies, and they suggest that municipal employees should regularly participate in training programs.