Metropolitan Association as a Form of Public-Law Association

Abstract

For many years now, there has been a search for a legal form appropriate for the management of highly urbanized areas covering many towns with complex social, economic, transport, and administrative systems. The metropolitan association in the Silesian Voivodeship has been in operation for the fourth year. Other large cities, together with their neighbouring municipalities, also expect to be covered by a similar form of implementation for the purpose of public tasks. Among many questions, there is one: what is a metropolitan association in a legal sense? This article is an attempt to check to what extent Tadeusz Bigo’s concept from 1928 is up-to-date and whether it can serve as a certain theoretical and legal model. The features of a public-law association are its creation by the state, compulsory membership, supervision by the state, and the use of public authority. The existing Upper Silesian–Zagłębie Metropolis fulfils all of these. The proposed legal solutions concerning new metropolises also pass the Bigo test. We can only expect a speedy adoption of the relevant acts and the establishment of metropolises in Wrocław, Gdańsk–Gdynia–Sopot, or Łódź.