In the face of the dynamic ageing of local communities, smart cities and smart villages programs should seek to ensure meeting the needs of the elderly and promoting solutions tailored to their computer literacy, digital skills, and perception capabilities. In this context we propose to approach local smart and age-friendly communities initiatives in a way that would provide responses to two contemporary megatrends: digitalization and demographic transition. We assumed that the deployment of such initiatives in local planning and governance depends on at least two conditions: demand for smart everyday products and services represented by older adults and the perspective of the local decision-makers. The paper aims to examine whether the smart city/smart village idea focused on meeting the needs of the elderly and seeking to shape age-friendly local communities and the environment could be implemented in the municipalities in Poland. The analysis of the elderly Poles’ capabilities to absorb the ICT solutions demonstrated that the smart and age-friendly community approach may face implementation difficulties, especially in the oldest groups of the Polish rural population. Results of the quantitative study conducted in 1236 municipalities revealed that local authorities perceive local policy goals, such as pursuing smart and age-friendly development as low priority ones. A citizen-centered approach of village heads and mayors to the local policy is critical for integrating these two priorities of being smart and age-friendly.

The transition to sustainable urban development requires both appropriate city management and local authorities that are aware of the implications posed by new urban sustainability challenges. The article aims to identify the priority policy/practice areas and interventions to solve sustainability challenges in Polish municipalities, as well as the factors that differentiate these priorities. Through an online questionnaire we surveyed 460 Polish municipalities, and conducted a multidimensional assessment concerning how mayors (and their executive teams) prioritise possible policy/practice areas and interventions related to sustainability. Our analysis implies that the mayors (and their executive teams) assign higher priority to policy/practice areas and interventions related to economic and social domains, and slightly lower priority to environmental ones. However, an important finding is that the priority policy/practice areas and interventions do not correspond well to some of the contemporary sustainability challenges in Polish cities. Effectively tackling urban environmental, economic and social problems would require the implementation of new approaches related to smart cities, the circular economy and/or cultural diversity. However, these less traditional policy/practice areas and interventions are quite low on the priority list of Polish mayors and their executive teams. Interestingly mayors and executive teams that prefer more participatory and solidarity-based management approaches are more likely to prioritise less traditional policy/practice areas and interventions to solve urban sustainability challenges in their municipalities.

The paper is motivated by concerns about challenges posed by the aging society problem and focuses on the silver economy (SE) as a social and economic concept developed in response to this challenge. Conducted analyses dealt with strategic planning of the SE development in Polish voivodeships. An original indicator showing the willingness of the self-government of a voivodeship to support SE development was worked out (I_PWSSE). We also analyzed opinions of local authorities asked to assess the importance of the inclusion of the idea of the SE in the municipalities. The following hypotheses have been adopted: H1 – the higher the growth rate of the voivodeship population potential in terms of SE, the higher the indicator of the regional government policy willingness to support the SE; H2 – in voivodeships which reported higher (I_PWSSE) indicator, municipalities interest in supporting the SE will also be higher. The research hypotheses were verified negatively.

The aim of this paper is to diagnose the extent of energy poverty in Poland and identify the instruments used in the public sector at the national level to address this challenge. In the theoretical part of the paper, we will review the literature related to the definition of the concept of energy poverty and the classification and measurement methodology of this phenomenon. In the research part, we will analyze the extent of the energy poverty phenomenon in Poland, review the Polish energy policy, and identify and characterize the instruments for tackling energy poverty in Poland implemented within the framework of national government programs. According to official statistics in Poland, depending on the adopted method of measuring energy poverty, in 2019, it affected between 4.2% and 15.4% of the population (the average across four indicators was 9% of the population). Our analyses confirmed the presence of energy poverty in Poland, which is a consequence of high energy prices and low energy efficiency of buildings. Energy poverty primarily affects people with the lowest incomes. Those particularly vulnerable are homeowners, especially residents of rural areas. The analysis of national strategies showed that although energy poverty is recognized at the government level, it is not a priority for the Polish government. There is a lack of a detailed diagnosis of energy poverty and a comprehensive, dedicated program for its reduction. Poland’s energy policy focuses primarily on limiting emissions and improving energy efficiency in buildings, which leads to the marginalization of the energy poverty issue.

The subject literature provides knowledge about various contemporary concepts of urban development, emphasizing a variety of goals and priorities of this process. Although sustainability should be a key objective of development policy, the methods of achieving it seem to be diverse. As a result, there are many theories describing development processes on a local scale, but there are no scientific attempts to summarise them or to comprehensively evaluate them. In the presented article such an attempt was initiated – the evolution of the concept of sustainable development in the context of transformation of the role of man in socio-economic and political processes from homo-oeconomicus to homo cooperativus was outlined and the assumptions of contemporary concepts of urban development (smart city, eco city and compact city) were identified and evaluated in terms of their cohesion and implementation of sustainable development principles. On this basis, a conceptual framework for an inclusive urban development model was defined, considering their key values in a synergic way.