Gdańsk took first and Sopot third places in the category of cities with county rights for 2014 (shared with Wrocław). As the editors of Rzeczpospolita were assessing local governments for the tenth time they also made a 10th jubilee award. Here Sopot won second, and Gdańsk third place.

But this wasn’t the end of the success Gdansk Metropolitan Area enjoyed in the rankings. In the best urban and semi-urban category Pruszcz Gdansk moved closer to the top this year advancing from 15th to 11th place.

The valuation criteria is based upon decades of important information. “First of all we rely on hard data from the Ministry of Finance and then the next step is to analyse the data sent to us by the various cities and communities” said MEP Jerzy Buzek, the former Prime Minister of Poland and former leader of the European Parliament from his position as chairman of the judging panel. “Thanks to a consistent methodology we are able to objectively assess the situation of individual governments”.

The judging panel pay attention to the following when analysing the data:

• The share of expenses in the total expenditure for implementation of the contracts with NGOs;
• Expenditure on the housing sector;
• The test results of sixth graders and high school students;
• The number of new businesses operating in the area;
• Share of total expenditure spent on promotion;
• Unemployment rate;
• Credit rating;
• Budget performance and measures specifying the degree of the realisation of budgetary targets;
• Support for the development of entrepreneurship;
• PPP initiatives;
• The implementation of investments of over 20 million PLN by the local government
• The value of EU co-financed agreements signed by local government bodies;
• The presence of local government Large Family Cards

In awarding Gdansk first place it was noted that nearly one third of the city’s budget for this year has been earmarked for investment. The city plans to spend not less than 949 million PLN, an increase of over 200 million on the previous year.

“I'm very happy, especially that we have returned to the top” said Paweł Adamowicz, President of Gdansk.

“Two years ago we came top in Rzeczpospolita’s ranking, and a year ago we took second place. At the end of June, I accepted the ‘Golden Pearl’ award for the best self-government which was made by Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. I think there is no doubt that our city is developing in the right direction”.

Elsewhere it was noted that in the case of Sopot  the city supports education, health and the family in a sustainable manner.

Our local governments also scored well in different subcategories. In terms of acquiring and using EU funds in urban and semi-urban areas, Krynica Morska fared well, finishing in second place.

The summary of the biggest projects implemented with financing from the EU also proved to be of interest. The most expensive investment in Poland is the construction and purchase of rolling stock for the second metro line in Warsaw. Next place is taken by the value of investment in the Slowackiego route connecting the airport with the Port of Gdansk. Also if you combine the total EU investment in cities, this also gives Gdank second place in the list  behind the capital Warsaw.