A Controversial Plan to Expand Warsaw

If the Polish government gets its way, Warsaw could, at the stroke of a pen, become one of the largest cities in Europe. The government’s plan would see the nation’s capital gobble up 32 suburban and ex-urban municipalities, gaining over 900 square miles of territory and well over a million more residents. That would make Warsaw slightly larger (if far less populous) than New York City.

The government says this expansion would give residents of Warsaw’s wider metro area better access to central-city resources such as education and health care, as well as making transit planning more streamlined and efficient. The idea of an expanding metropolis might be inspiring to some, but the Warsaw city government’s reaction to the plan is striking. They hate it—indeed, they actually fear it.