Neoliberalization of urban policy-making and planning in post-socialist Poland – A distinctive path from the perspective of varieties of capitalism

Abstract

Discussion of neoliberalization of urban policy-making and planning reflects upon evolutionary processes of Western capitalisms and their history. At the same time, in-depth comparative studies on the global diversity of capitalism recognize Eastern Europe as distinctive from Western capitalisms. The paper presents how the paradigm of neoliberalism shaped urban planning and development trajectories in Poland following 1989 through the lenses of the specific characteristics of capitalism in CEE region. Several factors that define the ‘new’ capitalism in Poland and distinguish it from neoliberal paths of development in Western Europe inspired analysis of the policy field of planning and urban development, e.g.: the paths towards departure from the idea of communism and its heritage, the role of Polish state as a regulator of institutional changes, a deficit of investment and social capital, and, especially, the dominant role of foreign investors. This research extends the diversity of conceptualization of ‘neoliberalism and planning’ by the experience in Eastern Europe. Following the perspective of variety of capitalism in CEE region, the paper emphasizes the significant role of foreign investors in the neoliberal paths of urban transformations. The research also indicates that the Polish variant of neoliberalism created the unprecedented liberalisation and negation of planning through the use of a minimalist approval system in land development.