While green infrastructure (GI) is now a widely referenced concept, in Poland it is still only discussed among academics and has yet to be implemented. In 2013, the EC recommended that Member States promote the implementation of GI approaches. In recent decades, ecological discourse has dominated Polish cities’ planning practice. In Warsaw, this discourse has evolved into the formation of the Warsaw Natural System (WNS) concept. This study examines means of transforming the WNS, which is strictly related to ecological discourse, into a Warsaw Green Infrastructure (WGI). In doing so, we utilise basic principles of GI, namely: integration, multifunctionality, connectivity, and multi-scale and multi-object approaches. The authors expose the main challenges associated with utilising the WNS concept as a point of departure for WGI implementation.

STRESZCZENIE W zarządzaniu przestrzenią przyrodniczą miast, regionów, a nawet krajów stosowana jest obecnie koncepcja zielonej infrastruktury. W Polsce koncepcja ta jest znana, o czym świadczą coraz liczniejsze publikacje na jej temat. Celem przedstawionych badań jest ustalenie, czy i w jakim stopniu założenia koncepcji są wykorzystywane w planowaniu struktury przestrzennej polskich miast. Badania skoncentrowano na Studiach uwarunkowań i kierunków zagospodarowania przestrzennego trzech miast-Gdańska, Łodzi i Wrocławia.

The importance of green areas for the well-being of city dwellers, upgrading their living conditions and health, has been discussed in a great number of publications. Relatively few studies have been devoted to urban natural protected areas. These areas are distinct due to the very often conflicting goals of their establishment and the social functions that they perform. Legal regulations concerning the establishment and management of these areas in force in Poland do not take into account the conditions mentioned above. Therefore, it seems justified to change the regulations and to establish a separate form of nature protection, particularly in the case of the nature reserves, as these most often appear in Polish cities and have the highest protection status. In order to support or refute this stipulation, the urban nature reserve (UNR) visitors were questioned (through a survey available online for six months in 2018). Eight-hundred and sixty-nine respondents took part in the survey. It revealed that most of the respondents perceived nature reserves located in cities as recreational areas; however, they were also aware of their multifunctional character. Such results support the conclusion that in order to effectively manage this type of area in cities, a concept of distinctive urban conservation areas should be developed.