This research examines the relationship between urban planning and environmental conditions. As urb-anisation processes increase the density of the built-up tissue of cities, this process puts a lot of pressure on land and natural resources such as rivers and soil. This article aims to verify whether environmental risks (e.g. flooding) and land protection from them is sufficiently addressed in the examined spatial policies and strategies.
This problem can be observed in the Powiśle district of Warsaw where buildings are constructed in the proximity of the unregulated Vistula River and that is why there is the direct risk of flooding. It is done despite the lack of legally binding Master plans which would consider the natural risk.
The literature research on the Municipality-led spatial planning policies and documents was completed with qualitative interviews with key actors in this process (planners: the authors of Master plans under construction, regarding the area of Powiśle South and North). Main designers and team members were asked about the priorities of these plans as well as their dynamics (taking more than ten years to establish those plans).
An environmental analysis was conducted in the GIS mapping system of many databases. The comparison of both aspects of current development, formal urban planning and environmental protection was made in an interdisciplinary approach. The study presents an analysis of the situation for urban planning along with flood maps and other environmental conditions. The results show the lack of necessary alignment of environmental issues with the planning documentation and strategies.

Biologically active areas play an extremely important role in the structure of a city and increasing their coverage, especially in large urban centres, is an activity with a number of advantages. This article compares, in terms of green spaces, two European cities of similar size – Warsaw (517.2 km2) and Oslo (454 km2). Both cities are capitals of their respective countries but implement different spatial policies in the scope of the Green Deal. In Warsaw, many industrial and post-industrial areas still exist and simultaneously urban green areas are decreasing year by year. In Oslo, a strategy based on deindustrialisation of the city and possible maximum use of urban greenery and public spaces is implemented. The research described in this article involved analysing the coverage of the analysed cities and their districts with biologically active area and then checking the correlation with other indicators that can be affected by this coverage. These included data on the incidence of the most common diseases among residents, the attractiveness of living for the elderly and families with children, as well as air and soil pollution and the occurrence of negative effects of climate change. The correlation of urban space use in terms of the presence of industrial land in relation to currently existing green spaces in the districts concerned was subsequently determined.