The issues raised in this study concern the contemporary specifics of the Polish territory as well as the historical context, especially legal provisions, economic changes and the political transformation which took place after the Second World War. All these issues are illustrated by numerous local examples from the Gdańsk agglomeration and the Pomerania region. However, the research presented is also based on the analysis of the utilitarian approach of regimes observed not only in Poland but all around the world. The Polish case serves merely as a background for further discussion.