The paper shows the impact of despatialization on processes of territorial development. The essence of despatialization is the decreasing importance of the spatial factor in the information society, as a result of the use of information and computer technologies, and in particular – the Internet. It creates new challenges for spatial management. Real contact between people and organizations is often replaced with links and information flows, the quality of which is growing and which in many cases eliminate the resistance that spatial distance makes. The multiple effects of this phenomenon modify social relations, at the same time being challenges, but also opportunities to create new tools for managing development policy.
The paper presents the author’s reflection regarding the recent transformations of the city of Krakow. The study is focused on the changes that are novelties or distinctive to the city. The conclusions indicate activities that should be treated by city authorities as challenges for the public management of the metropolitan scale.
The paper indicates the signifi cance of the development policy territorialization for an enhancing competitiveness of cities and regions. The characteristics of such a policy allow revealing of the nature of territorial instruments. The authors, referring to their consulting practice and the research work done for the Ministry of Development, frame their recommendations. Those recommendations constitute the guidelines for amendment of territorial instruments in the context of National Regional Development Strategy actualization.