The process of institutionalization of metropolitan cooperation within the metropolitan area around Gdańsk has been the subject of a debate with the participation of local representatives of various sectors. Currently, the main entity carrying out activities on a metropolitan scale is the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area Association. It has been responsible for a series of bottom-up projects, implementation of the Integrated Territorial Investments mechanism, as well as lobbying towards establishing a metropolitan union in Pomeranian Voivodship. The article describes the current conditionings that seem to be the most important for the spatial extent and objects of the cooperation in the context of the foregoing metropolitan discourse. KEY WORDS: metropolitan governance, multi-level governance, Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area, Integrated Territorial Investments ABSTRAKT: Proces instytucjonalizacji współpracy metropolitalnej na terenie obszaru metropolitalnego kształtującego się wokół Gdańska od początku transformacji ustrojowej stanowi przedmiot lokalnej debaty z udziałem przedstawicieli różnych sektorów. Obecnie najważniejszym podmiotem realizującym działania w skali metropolitalnej jest Stowarzyszenie Obszar Metropolitalny Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot, odpowiedzialne za szereg oddolnych projektów, wdrażanie mechanizmu Zintegrowanych Inwestycji Terytorialnych, a także lobbing mający doprowadzić do uchwalenia ustawy poświęconej obszarowi. W artykule uwzględniono kontekst ostatnich kilkunastu lat kształtowania się współpracy, jak również opisano aktualne uwarunkowania, które będę miały decydujące znaczenie dla jej przedmiotu i zasięgu przestrzennego.
The article attempts to present dilemmas related to shaping metropolitan policy in Canada, and then relate them to problems occurring in Poland. It is a part of the debate on seeking the right governance configurations and discourses in response to the communities’ needs. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of the scales of governance and socio-spatial relations in the Toronto metropolitan area. The article has been divided into four main parts. Part one outlines the theoretical framework and the context of the conducted analyses. Part two describes the structures and processes of regional and metropolitan governance in Southern Ontario, with the earlier reference to the institutional conditions and directions of reforms characteristic of the whole of Canada. Part three of the study concerns the governance arrangements that may constitute important reference points for the scientific and political discourse taking place in Poland. Part four is an attempt to capture the similarities and universal premises that have a decisive influence on the processes of forming metropolitan structures and policies, both in Canada and in Poland. The assumption was made that, despite different historical and socio-cultural conditions, comparing Canadian and Polish experiences is justified, necessary and possible. Firstly, due to the reason that socio-spatial relations in various territorial systems are subject to the same development processes and the accompanying processes of transformation and adaptation. Secondly, residents (members of local, metropolitan, regional, national and supranational communities) have similar needs and expect a high quality of life. Decision-makers and actors of political scenes in different geographical spaces have (or may have) the same technologies, ways of information processing, access to knowledge and knowledge of socio-economic processes. They also face challenges related to the inclusion of citizens in decision-making processes. The analysis of metropolitan processes in both countries emphasizes the differences resulting from various historical and economic contexts of development and also makes it possible to identify universal mechanisms and regularities independent of these contexts. The practice of metropolitan policy proves that the process of re-territorialization of power structures and governance is shaped as a resultant of the impact of forces and interests at all levels of territorial authorities: central, regional and local. Based on the analysis of the processes of the formation of metropolitan structures in Canada and Poland, it can be stated that the rank and position of regional authorities play a key role in it. In Canada, strong regional authorities initiate actions for the shaping of metropolitan structures and formulate the scope of their competence and organization. The importance of central authorities for the dynamics of metropolitan processes is secondary in this case. The weakness of regional authorities in Poland leads to the inability to give metropolitan processes the dynamics of development and the legislative rank adequate for the role played by urban regions in the socio-economic development of the country. As evidenced by the example of Toronto, the evolution of the governance system in practice initiates the process of self-learning the system which goes from one to another phase of development, improving the quality of its operation. In Poland, however, the process of creation of governance structures adequate for realistically existing functional metropolitan areas has been stopped, notably, due to the unfavourable political decisions at the central level.
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