Poland sets new rules for preparing local spatial development plans

The Ministry of Finance and Economy has issued a new regulation setting out how the draft of a local spatial development plan (miejscowy plan zagospodarowania przestrzennego) must be prepared, in both its written and graphic parts. The regulation, dated 7 September 2026, was published in Dziennik Ustaw on 9 September 2026 under reference Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1192 and enters into force 14 days after publication.

The act is based on Article 16(2) of the Act of 27 March 2003 on spatial planning and land management, and was signed on behalf of the minister by deputy M. Jaros. It replaces the earlier regulation of the Minister of Development and Technology of 17 December 2021 (Dz.U. poz. 2404), which loses force on the day the new rules take effect.

Scope of the new rules

The regulation standardises the technical and formal preparation of the local plan across the whole of Poland, binding on municipalities (gminy) and the urban planners who draft the documents. It covers five areas:

• the scale of the plan;
• the land-use classes (klasy przeznaczenia terenu);
• the markings, nomenclature and standards to be used;
• the graphic presentation of spatial data;
• the documentation of planning works.

The written part of the plan must set out land use through a name and symbol with a terrain number, and may add complementary or excluded uses. Parking requirements are expressed in relation to the number of dwellings, the number of people who may be in a building, the number of employees, or the floor area of service and production facilities.

Graphic part and scales

The graphic part of the plan must be drawn up electronically in the coordinate system of the national spatial reference system, in a way that can be unambiguously linked to the written part. It must include the plan’s name, the scale in numeric and linear form, the direction of north, the coordinate system, the boundaries of the area covered, the graphic markings of the plan’s provisions, a legend, and any informational elements that are not part of the plan’s provisions.

Depending on the type of area, different scales are permitted:

• 1:500 for areas of intensive development or public space;
• 1:2000 for linear investments or areas of considerable size;
• 1:5000 for plans drawn up solely to designate land for afforestation or to introduce a building ban.

The markings, nomenclature, standards and graphic presentation of land-use classes are set out in Annex 1, and the basic markings for lines used in the plan in Annex 2.

Documentation of planning works

The regulation details the documentation that must be kept of the planning procedure, in electronic form. It includes the resolution of the municipal council to start work on the plan, evidence of publication in the Urban Register (Rejestr Urbanistyczny), notices to the bodies responsible for opinions and agreements, the list of applications, the environmental impact forecast, and the report summarising public consultations.

The documentation must also contain the justification of the plan, all spatial data created during the procedure, the source of the geodetic and cartographic material used, and a list of the people who prepared the plan, with their names and confirmation that they meet the conditions of Article 5 of the Act. Separate documentation rules are laid down for the simplified procedure, the integrated investment plan, the local revitalisation plan, and plans issued by order of the Council of Ministers.

Transitional provisions

Plans already under way before the regulation enters into force — those started under a resolution adopted earlier, announced under the simplified procedure, or for which the integrated investment plan or the Council of Ministers procedure was announced before that date — continue under the previous rules. However, from the day the regulation takes effect, the new documentation requirements apply to the steps carried out from that date onwards.

The new rules give municipalities and urban planners a single, uniform technical standard for preparing local plans, which should make the documents more consistent and easier to compare across the country. For residents and investors, the clearer markings and standardised presentation of land-use classes should make local plans more legible and the planning process more transparent.

Source: Dziennik Ustaw, 9 September 2026, item 1192 (official reference: Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1192).