Protection of cultural values in local spatial plans of medium-sized towns in Mazovia, Poland

This article aims to assess the effectiveness of a given tool (the local spatial development plan) in relation to the protection of the cultural landscapes in some of Poland’s medium-sized urban centres. This study has focused on the central parts of several towns in the Mazovian Voivodeship of Poland (bearing in mind that Poland is a CEEC, which once therefore fell within the Eastern Bloc, and has been through many development processes in the context of a systemic transformation capable of threatening the identities of urban centres). The country is presently pursuing legislative change that could extend better protective support to valuable elements of urban heritage. The central zones of the urban centres under study were chosen to exemplify the core issues involved, while providing an opportunity for comparative analysis. The study was also a pretext for analysing Polish regulations where protection is concerned, with a view to imperfections being recognized, and recommendations for change formulated (i.a. by reference to other countries’ good practices). Analyses were based on archival cartographic studies, a topographic database and GIS software supporting the analysis and visualization of geospatial data.