Delimitation of the Poznan Metropolitan Area.From an Idea to a Plan

In order to delimit a territorially cohesive area, four methodological principles were adopted: immediate neighbourhood, continuity, compactness and separation. Three basic groups of delimitation criteria were established: socio-economic, accessibility and the natural environment. In a statistical and dynamic approach, the research conducted for the area confirmed active growth of the majority of communes in the vicinity of the city of Poznań. The ultimate shape of the metropolitan area fulfils the adopted delimitation assumptions and rather faithfully describes the functional and spatial relations; it also captures as a whole the more significant natural structures. If the limits of the Poznan Metropolitan Area crossed these structures they would circumscribe the opportunities of planning sustainable spatial development. For the metropolitan area defined in this way, a draft of the spatial plan was developed. The Plan is one of the tools of administering the spatial policy of Wielkopolska province.