Adaptation to climate change has become an important element of urban policy development in the member states of the European Union. These issues are dealt with in EU documents, as well as in national and local strategies and city adaptation plans. In Poland, the challenge of preparing for climate change has been presented in the Strategic Adaptation Plan for Sectors and Areas Sensitive to Climate Change in Poland within the Perspective of 2030 referring to sectors and areas sensitive to the impact of climate change. Adaptation to climate change is a key element in creating spatial policy for cities and urbanised areas at different levels. One of the most important issues of this policy is the quality of the renovated urban areas and its role in connecting-up and strengthening adaptation capacity. Among the strategic areas indicated in the above-mentioned document, there is also urban policy taking climate change into consideration. One of the selected problem areas relating to the development of urban policy is the renewal and strengthening of the development potential of towns and cities via the regeneration of degraded urban areas and post-industrial land in cities. Both local authorities, entities whose professional role is to deal with urban issues, and the inhabitants of urbanised areas face a twofold challenge. This consists of enhancing the quality of urban areas via regeneration and strengthening the city’s potential for adaptation. That is why it is extremely important to notice the interconnections and opportunities provided by urban renewal and regeneration programmes and projects in the context of adaptation to climate change. Synergy of activities in those two areas of urban policy may bring about very measurable benefits and may enable a cohesive solution to be adopted with regard to many crucial environmental, social, and economic problems.

The purpose of the article is to present the author’s methodology for identifying and assessing potentials and barriers occurring in various locations related to cultural tourism. The research aimed to develop a methodology to identify barriers and potentials for tourism development in peripheral and less-known locations. The potentials and barriers identified in a given location are important determinants of the development of cultural tourism and therefore economic development in the mentioned area. The identification of development potentials and barriers refers to the existing features of a given area or place and factors that activate or limit the possibilities of its using cultural resources. The study was based on the analysis of eight case studies of destinations with interesting cultural values. The entire series of analyses addressed various aspects of these destinations. Areas of different sizes and scales were considered, including areas in transboundary regions, rural areas, historic city centres, and archaeological or industrial sites. The work presents the author’s methodology for integrating the various elements that define the features and factors of cultural tourism and establishes a framework for a strategy for its sustainable development. To achieve this, a tool in the form of a comprehensive matrix was developed to assess the situation of each pilot site. Based on this tool, the pilot sites identified key features or factors as a barrier or potential and furthermore defined their territorial scope and their impact on their chosen dominant types of tourism. Barriers and potentials were identified based on a set of 47 previously developed features and factors. During the research, 38 most important potentials and 15 barriers were identified. The tool presented in the paper is comprehensive and universal, so it can be applied to any destination.