Right to the suburbs. Dilemmas of the suburban areas incorporation on the example of city Opole

Abstract

The article attempts to look at the process of suburbanization and the relations between the central city and the suburban area from the point of view of territorial policy and the process of enlarging the administrative borders of cities. The main emphasis was placed on the legal conditions for the incorporation of suburbs and the right of local governments to protect their own borders. Based on the analysis of European and national law, legal loopholes in territorial proceedings were identified, which may cause the spread of suburbia annexation and undermine the right of local communities to protect territorial borders. As a case study, the process of expanding the borders of Opole was presented, crowned with a decision of the Council of Ministers favorable to the city authorities, against the will of the local community of suburban communes. This decision caused a social conflict, the sources of which are both legal deficits, various economic interests and the lack of dialogue between the local governments concerned. The article ends with conclusions and recommendations regarding more systemic solutions to the problems of territorial changes and increasing the transparency of decisions made in this matter.