The development of particular towns is a factor that determines the economical, social and spatial development of the country. Therefore we turn our attention to it with a critical eye. On 20 th October 2015 the government in Poland accepted a bill connected with the Country Town Policy 2023, that is addressed to towns. Its main point is to strengthen towns in their sustainable development, betterment of standards of living and workplace creation. The socio-economical transformation that occurred in Poland in 1989 has caused a lot of changes in the country. In Ukraine it happened in 1991 and it appears that due to various reasons, its transformation seems to be a much longer process and the process has not finished yet. This article focuses on the development of small towns in Ukraine and Poland, which, in currently difficult times, find themselves in a hard and unstable socioeconomic situation. This article analyzes the economic, demographic and spatial aspects of small towns in Ukraine and Poland.

The paper presents results of the buildings’ shadowing analysis performed in the selected areas located near the market square in Leżajsk – a small town in Podkarpacie. The author provided her own formulas for the degree of the shadowing, including the height of the development, distances between the buildings, their location in relation to the directions of the world and the time of the day. The buildings’ shadowing is connected with the limited access of the natural light, and thus it influences the quality of the housing environment. The results of the analysis may be implemented in the shaping of the urban interior, including housing, important due to the constant presence of the man. Lighting of the interiors and adjacent areas allows to create healthy housing environment and reduces the energy demand, necessary for the heating during the winter. Streszczenie W artykule zaprezentowano wyniki analizy zacienienia ścian budynków w wybranych obszarach zlokalizowanych w otoczeniu rynku w Leżajsku – niewielkim mieście województwa podkarpackiego. Podano własne wzory na obliczanie stopnia zacienienia z uwzględnieniem wysokości zabudowy, odległości między budynkami, ich usytuowania względem stron świata i pory dnia. Zacienienie budynków wiąże się z ograniczonym dostępem światła naturalnego, a tym samym wpływa na jakość środowiska mieszkaniowego. Wyniki analizy mogą być wykorzystane w praktyce, w zakresie kształtowania wnętrz urbanistycznych, w tym także mieszkaniowych, ważnych z uwagi na stały pobyt człowieka. Doświetlenie wnętrz obiektów jak i strefy zewnętrznej pozwala kształtować prozdrowotne środowisko mieszkaniowe oraz zmniejszać zapotrzebowanie na energię niezbędną na ocieplenie mieszkań w okresie mrozów i chłodów.

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New trends in sustainable design contribute to prevention of the deterioration of the natural environment and they are focused on the optimisation of the indoor environment for the improvement of the human life quality. There are complementary goals of sustainable design-the comfort of architecture users,proper spatial planning, and, as a priority, taking into account the needs of both contemporary and future generations. These existential needs are connected with both local and global sozological problems. These are related to the continuing growth of irreversible changes to the environment, such as climate change, the disappearance of biodiversity, and the over-exploitation of nonrenewable sources of energy as result of shortsighted economy. These imply the necessity for the sozological education in all subjects of study and transdisciplinary training focused on the solving of problems associated with sustainable development.

The rich pool of tacit knowledge in the minds of a diverse set of stakeholders is a crucial asset for exploring the solutions of Sustainable Development. The education for Sustainable Development can therefore be carried out as an interactive exercise between the stakeholders rather than a one-way flow of knowledge in the conventional class rooms. It calls for paradigmatically new ways of education for addressing the issues of Sustainable Development. The generating of knowledge, its dissemination and devising solutions for Sustainable Development have to go hand in hand. With this perspective in mind the Polish scholars focused on organising workshops for the stakeholders of diverse backgrounds for synthesising, documenting and further devising solutions for Sustainable Development on the basis of their knowledge. Some activities were also focused on social participation which included the residents of the analysed areas.