The subject of this paper is the study of the specificity of the transformation of the urban public spaces of the Western world and the problem of the multi form nature of this phenomenon. The Author uses such concepts as that of the "hybrid" and of "hybridization" borrowed from the field of natural sciences and explains the reasons for their introduction within this specific scope of research in a broad manner.

The following article presents a selection of the most interesting examples of transformations of public space in towns and cities of varying sizes in Lesser Poland which were aided by European grants obtained from the pool of EU funds, with special attention to the Lesser Poland Regional Operational Programme (ROP) an also the Rural Development Programme (RDP) in the years 2007-2013. The presented findings are of a preliminary nature and are phase in the wider studies being conducted by the Author covering the multifaceted transformations of public space that have taken place and are taking place in Poland with the aid of European funding. The aim of these studies is an overall evaluation of how, in specific planning periods, the joining of the European Union and the possibility of taking advantage of Western experience, as well as financial support, influenced and influence today the transformations of public space in Polish towns and cities, and their influence on people’s thoughts and perceptions of such space.