The dynamics of suburbanisation in Poland increased dramatically in the period of socio-economic
transformation of the country, which began officially in 1989. This process is particularly
visible in suburban zones of the biggest Polish cities, manifesting itself in the change of land
use pattern, especially in a metamorphosis of the agricultural land. Legal regulations that
were not enough adjusted to the spontaneous development of cities often allowed functional conflicts to appear. The objective of the article is the analysis of those problems in Lodz
Metropolitan Area and in its neighbouring municipalities. The change in land use structure
in 2000-2012 as well as the provisions in planning documents in force were taken under consideration. In order to identify the areas where conflicting phenomena may appear, planned
land use forms along all municipal borders were analysed. The
final stage of the research procedure was the assessing the degree of local spatial policies compliance and, basing on those
analyses, formulating recommendations for future spatial policy in Lodz Metropolitan Are
