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Urban Resilience and New Urban Policies The article analyses new urban policies and the question of urban resilience. The author focus on two case studies: the examples of “superblocks” idea in Barcelona and the idea of “15-minute city” in Paris. Both initiatives are now becoming model solutions, providing inspiration for other cities adapting to the new challenges. Moreover, both cities in the middle of the 19th century, as a result of the revolutionary reconstruction of the urban fabric, have also become model examples for other cities and symbols of the new urban way of life. The analysis, based on such examples, allows the phenomena to be explained in a long-term perspective, indicating the role of the city and urbanity in the process of initiating social change processes.

Social identity in times of change. Local Poland in the process of European integration The article concerns the problem of dynamics of collective identities in local Poland after the accession to the European Union in 2004. The conclusions presented in the article are based on the results of field research conducted in 2012‑2014, within six municipalities in three different regions. The author focuses primarily on the analysis of the symbolic frame of reference in local Poland, which are the defining reason for action of social actors. The article examines three key variables affecting the formation of new symbolic frames of reference: the impact of EU funds on the local community, the role of local social memory and the social and cultural capital. The author concludes that, despite the fact that the changing symbolic frame of reference are creating the possibility to redefine the traditional identity in local Poland, as a result of mass migration there are no social actors who would be leaders of the change. The author’s primary focus is the analysis of the symbolic frames of reference in local Poland, which can only be described as dynamic and ever‑changing, and as such constituting the defining reason for social actors’ action. In the conclusion the author states that, despite the changes in the symbolic frames of reference, as well as the possibility of redefining the traditional identities in the local Poland, due to the mass migration there are no social actors suitable for leading the change.

Urban policies The main subject of this article is the changing status of cities in the contemporary world, and the consequent necessity of creating and implementing coherent urban policies. The authors analyse the changing economical, political and socio-cultural contexts in macro dimension, which opens new development possibilities for contemporary cities. The authors pay particular attention to the case of Poland, emphasizing the consequences of omissions in the formation of coherent urban policies. In the scenario where there are no such policies, Polish cities become vulnerable to the inconsiderate exploitation of the global capital, as well as to the dominance of short‑term interests of the local political elites undercutting their subjectivity, and thus block the process of the modernization of Poland.