The municipal general plan: a new document that will decide the value of your plot

Poland's 2023 spatial planning reform replaced the study of conditions and directions of spatial development (studium uwarunkowań i kierunków zagospodarowania przestrzennego) with the municipal general plan (plan ogólny gminy). Under current rules, municipalities have until 30 June 2026 to adopt it. This is not just a new name for the document. The general plan will be an act of local law, binding on everyone – and it will set the limits of what can be built on a given plot in the future. For landowners, it is a document of key importance for property value.

General plan versus land-use study – the main differences

The land-use study was a statement of the municipality's spatial policy. It bound the municipality when drawing up local zoning plans, but it was not an act of local law and did not form the basis for zoning decisions (WZ).

The general plan is an act of local law in force across the entire municipality. Every new local zoning plan, integrated investment plan (ZPI) and zoning decision must comply with it. The general plan is prepared and published in digital form, in the Urban Planning Register (Rejestr Urbanistyczny).

The general plan does not in itself grant development rights – these still derive from a local zoning plan, a WZ decision or a ZPI. But it is the general plan that sets their limits.

What the general plan contains

Planning zones

The entire municipality will be divided into planning zones. The act provides for 13 types of zones:

Each zone has a catalogue of permitted uses. For the owner of land intended for multifamily housing, the most important question is whether the plot falls within an SW zone.

Municipal urban planning standards

For each zone, the general plan sets mandatory parameters: maximum building height, maximum share of built-up area, maximum development intensity and minimum share of biologically active area. It is these parameters that will translate into the plot's buildable capacity in future local zoning plans – and therefore directly into its value.

Infill development area (OUZ)

The general plan may designate infill development areas (obszar uzupełnienia zabudowy, OUZ). Once the new rules apply, a zoning decision (WZ) can only be issued for land located within an OUZ. A plot outside this area – without a local zoning plan – will lose the route to obtaining a WZ.

Inner-city development area (OZS)

The general plan may also designate an inner-city development area (obszar zabudowy śródmiejskiej, OZS), where intensive, compact development is allowed with less stringent technical requirements.

Why the general plan will decide the value of a plot

• The zone determines the use. A plot in an SW zone has potential for multifamily housing. The same plot in an SJ or SN zone does not.
• The standards determine capacity. A difference in maximum height or development intensity can mean a difference of tens of per cent in PUM (usable floor area of apartments), and therefore in the land price.
• The OUZ determines the WZ route. On land without a local zoning plan, only a location within an OUZ will preserve the possibility of obtaining a zoning decision.

It is worth remembering that owners have no compensation claims in respect of the adoption of the general plan itself – the effects on value will only materialise with subsequent local zoning plans.

How to influence the general plan

The procedure for drawing up the general plan provides for public participation. Property owners can submit requests when work begins and comments on the draft when it is put on public display during consultation. This is a real opportunity to draw the municipality's attention to the potential of a specific site. Comments are best prepared on the merits – referring to the existing development in the surrounding area and access to infrastructure and transport – and not solely to the owner's interest.

Progress in Poland and in Kraków

Municipalities are working on their general plans at different speeds. The first large city with a plan in force is Poznań – its general plan was adopted on 18 December 2025 and has been in force since 14 January 2026. Many municipalities, however, are signalling a risk of missing the statutory deadline.

Kraków is working on the General Plan of the City of Kraków, but the draft has not yet been made public. In January 2024, the City Council abandoned work on a new land-use study to focus on the general plan. For landowners in Kraków, this leads to several important conclusions:

• more than 80% of the city's area is covered by local zoning plans – on this land, the general plan does not change the current development rules, but it will determine the direction of future plan changes,
• on land without a local zoning plan, the status in the general plan – the zone and any location within an OUZ – will decide whether the plot keeps the possibility of obtaining a WZ,
• if the general plan is not adopted on time, the land-use study will expire, and in a city without a general plan it will, as a rule, not be possible to issue new WZ decisions or adopt new local zoning plans.

Owners of plots without a local zoning plan should consider two steps now: check whether a WZ can still be obtained under the current rules, and prepare to submit comments when the draft general plan is put on public display.

Frequently asked questions