Table 1
Characteristics of the implementation of ITIs in Poland.
| Characteristic | ITI |
|---|---|
| objective | strengthening mechanisms for territorial coordination of interventions responding to the functional urban areas’ (FUAs) needs and problems, as well as promoting administrative units’ cooperation in the management of EU funds and territorial development of FUAs; |
| measures | promoting the partnership model of cooperation between the different administrative units in functional urban areas in the management of EU funds; implementation of cross-sectoral territorial strategies through linking thematic objectives specified in the Partnership Agreement (PA 2014) and regional operational programmes (ROP) to the territorial approach; implementation of joint cross-sectoral, integrated projects responding comprehensively to the needs and problems of cities and their functional areas; |
| financing measures | ESIF TO 1–10; combining funding of one project (implemented in the form of bundles of projects) from different funds (ERDF, ESF) from several priority axes and operational programs; |
| implementation | under 16 ROPs; under selected NOPs (OP Infrastructure and Environment and OP Eastern Poland); |
| ex-ante conditions | appointing the ITI union by establishing an institutionalised form of partnership (arrangement, association, or inter-municipal union); developing ITI strategy identifying problems, determining the directions of intervention and including the list of projects; concluding an agreement for the implementation of ITI between the ITI union and the managing authority (MA) of ROP; |
| area of intervention | obligatory in 17 FUAs of voivodeship centres (FUA VC); optionally in 9 selected FUAs of regional centres (FUA RC) and FUAs of subregional centres (FUA SC). |
[i] Source: own study based on Principles for the implementation… (2013), Partnership Agreement (2014).
Table 2
Combining the directions of intervention with thematic objectives.
| Direction of intervention | Thematic objective |
|---|---|
| dynamisation of efficient and sustainable transport connecting the city and its functional area | TO4, TO7 |
| restoration of socio-economic functions in degraded areas included in the composition of the functional urban area | TO6, TO8, TO9, TO10 |
| improvement of the state of the natural environment of the city and its functional area | TO4, TO6 |
| strengthening of energy efficiency, and popularising low-emission strategies | TO4 |
| strengthening of symbolic functions building the international character and supraregional rank of a given functional area of the city | TO1, TO3 |
| improvement of the situation on the labour market | TO8, TO10 |
| improvement in accessibility of public services | TO8, TO9, TO10 |
| services concerning health protection, prophylaxis, and social services | TO8, TO9 |
[i] Source: own study based on the Partnership Agreement (2014).

Fig. 1
Basic allocation in 16 ROPs for ‘voivodeship’ ITIs (in million EUR).
Source: own study based on Partnership Agreement (2014).

Fig. 2
Spatial range of the proposed FUAs of VCs and ITI support areas in practice.
Source: own study based on D. Kociuba 2017a.
Table 3
Area, population and number of communes implementing ITIs in Poland.
| FUAs of voivodeship centres | FUAs of regional and subregional centres | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| area (in thou. km2) | 38.5 | 16.5 | 55.0 |
| population (in million) | 14.8 | 3.3 | 18.1 |
| number of communes | 348 | 181 | 529 |
[i] Source: own study.
Table 4
Legal and organisational forms of cooperation of LGUs and institutionalisation of ITI unions in selected FUAs in Poland.
| Name of FUA | Form of partnership | Establishment of partnership | Entrusting the role of IB to ITI union | Scope of task delegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FUA VC | ||||
| Białystok FUA | arrangement | 2005 | ||
| association | 2013 | 2014 | 1 | |
| Bydgoszcz–Toruń FUA | arrangement | 2005/2008 | ||
| association | 2010 | |||
| arrangement | 2014 | 2014/2016 | 2 | |
| association | 2015 | |||
| Gdańsk–Gdynia–Sopot (Tricity) FUA | council | 2003 | ||
| association | 2006 | |||
| arrangement | 2011/2012 | |||
| association | 2011 | |||
| arrangement | 2014 | 2014 | ||
| association | 2015 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Gorzów Wielkopolski FUA | association | 1999 | ||
| arrangement | 2011 | |||
| arrangement | 2013 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Central Subregion (Katowice) FUA | association | 2007 | ||
| association | 2013 | 2013 | 2 | |
| Kielce FUA | arrangement | 2013 | 2013 | 2 |
| Kraków FUA | council | 2007 | ||
| association | 2013 | 2014 | 2 | |
| Lublin FUA | arrangement | 2005 | ||
| agreement | 2014 | |||
| arrangement | 2015 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Łódź FUA | association | 2012/2013 | 2015 | 2 |
| Olsztyn FUA | association | 2013 | ||
| arrangement | 2013 | 2014 | 2 | |
| Opole FUA | arrangement | 2012 | 2013 | |
| association | 2013 | 2014 | 3 | |
| Poznań FUA | council | 2007 | ||
| association | 2011 | 2013 | 2 | |
| Rzeszów FUA | arrangement | 2005 | ||
| association | 2008 | |||
| arrangement | 2014 | |||
| association | 2015 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Szczecin FUA | association | 2005/2009 | 2015 | 1 |
| Warszawa FUA | association | 2000 | ||
| arrangement | 2014 | 2014 | 2 | |
| Wrocław FUA | development agency | 2006 | ||
| association | 2013 | |||
| arrangement | 2013 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Zielona Góra FUA | association | 2006 | ||
| association | 2011 | |||
| arrangement | 2014 | 2014 | 2 | |
| FUA RC/SC | ||||
| Wałbrzych FUA | cooperation declaration | 2013 | ||
| arrangement | 2015 | 2015 | 3 | |
| Jelenia Góra FUA | cooperation declaration | 2012 | ||
| arrangement | 2015 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Kalisz–Ostrów FUA | arrangement | 2008 | ||
| association | 2015 | 2015 | 2 | |
| Koszalin–Kołobrzeg–Białogard FUA | arrangement | 2014 | 2015 | 2 |
| Ełk FUA | arrangement | 2014 | 2015 | 2 |
| Elbląg FUA | arrangement | 2013 | ||
| agreement | 2014 | |||
| arrangement | 2014 | 2016 | 2 | |
| South Subregion (Bielsko-Biała) FUA | arrangement | 2015 | 2016 | 2 |
| North Subregion (Częstochowa) FUA | association | 1992/2000 | ||
| arrangement | 2015 | 2015 | 2 | |
| West Subregion (Rybnik) FUA | union | 2002 | 2015 | 2 |
[i] 1) designations of strategic projects,
[ii] 2) recruitment, selection, and assessment of projects,
[iii] 3) performance of the full procedure of call for proposals for the managing authority.
[iv] Source: own study based on Kociuba (2017) and selected ITI/RTI strategies of RC and SC FUAs.

Fig. 3
Sources of financing of voivodeship ITIs with complementary sources.
Source: own study based on: https://www.fundusze-europejskie.gov.pl.

Fig. 4
Allocation for ITIs under ROPs (blue colour) and resources contracted by the end of May 2018 (red colour) (in million EUR), state as of May 2018.
Source: own study based on 16 ROPs and 16 detailed description of priority axes of regional operational programmes, and the website of the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development (https://www.fundusze-europejskie.gov.pl).

Fig. 5
Frequency of investment indications under thematic objectives in 26 ITI strategies.
Source: own study.