Delimitation of the metropolitan areas of Warsaw and Lviv over the last 100 years. The Polish-Ukrainian experience

In the 21st century age of globalisation, a metropolis is considered the main unit of the settlement system, though its impact may well extend beyond the borders of a certain country. The principles of zoning for metropolitan areas are significant as a tool for the correct construction of the spatial structure of the state, facilitating the activation and use of human potential and economic development. In the aftermath of centralised planning under the Soviet era, the need to set out metropolitan areas was recognised later in Ukraine than in Poland. As a result of the ongoing war started by Russian aggression in 2022, attention was drawn to the need for such well-connected settlement complexes. Researchers have hypothesised that the settlement network of numerous small towns surrounding Kiev saved the city from total destruction and staved off the Russian invasion.The research presented in this paper concentrates on Polish-Ukrainian practices of shaping metropolitan areas. Ukraine still needs to develop holistic concepts for the creation and spatial development of metropolises in dynamic contemporary conditions. Ukraine evidently suffers from problems associated with the gradual degradation of many regional cities as scientific, cultural and industrial centres, as a result of war and destruction, as well as due to the continued use of outdated methodological tools for zoning and urban planning.This paper analyses the differences and similarities in terms of spatial organisation and the development and delimitation of metropolitan areas in Poland and in Ukraine over the last hundred years. The summary describes how the Polish experience can be applied to Ukrainian practice, particularly during the future reconstruction of Ukraine.