Institutions and urban change in a globalising world - The case of Warsaw

As a major gateway city to eastern Europe, Warsaw has been subject to a significant level of international real estate investment and development activity in support of the regional functions of trans-national corporations as well as access to the large Polish domestic market. As a result the city has undergone major transformation since the early 1990s with large-scale office and retail developments in the city centre as well as out of town locations. This paper considers city institutional capacities and policy responses in the face of these changes, particularly in respect of nurturing and channelling international investment and development activity. As such the paper utilises the results of fieldwork interviews and focus group discussions involving a range of public/private and local/international actors in urban planning as well as property development and investment activities. The research stems from an ESRC funded project that evaluates globalisation of real estate markets and urban development in the capital cities of central Europe. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.