Urban Planners in Poland. Practicing the Urban Planning Profession in Poland and Other European Countries

The meaning of the “urban planner” differs in every national spatial planning system. Its definition in the EU scale as a profession in public trust, responsible for practical and scientific domains, social activities, organisational and creational ones deviates significantly from the Polish definitions, where the urban planner is being recognised as someone who prepares a local plan project. This situation is a symptom of the spatial planning crisis in Poland, and a crisis of the profession as well. This situation needs urgent reforms, which should bring back the situation of spatial planning as the most important tool for spatial management.