Liberalism and urban planning

Abstract

Locke, in his deliberations about natural rights, especially on the one that constitutes the others – the ownership right, took land as his starting point. According to Locke, in the original state of nature, anyone could possess as much land as he could make himself subject to the work of his own hands. By making the land usable, the individual became the owner of the land, acquiring the inherent, natural property right to it. In urban planning, methods of alternative building, without even a piece of land, have not yet been invented. Thus, the issue of doctrines concerning the ownership rights of these lands seems to be closely related to the recently observed problems affecting cities. The road that polish urban planning has traveled since 1989 is the way from a functioning system, which was able to provide users with a large number of apartments in a short time, as well as an adequate number of services and jobs, all connected by efficient public transport to a system in which the urban planner, the city and its authorities are constrained by individualistic actions, often contrary to the public interest, the interests of landowners. Although it is obvious that the previous system of spatial planning was much better at meeting basic social needs such as housing, education or public transport but it is not the task of this text to praise the actions taken before 1989, often totalitarian. The premise of this text is to show the influence that the functioning in society has on the appearance and functioning of Polish cities, as well as the attachment to the ideas proclaimed by liberalism, which is vivid in public discussion.