Osiedle (Polish plural: ''osiedla'', from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

''Ansiedlung'' meaning ''settlement'') is a term used in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

to denote a designated subdivision or

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

of a city or its

dzielnica In the Poland, Polish system of local administration, a dzielnica (Polish plural ''dzielnice'') is an administrative subdivision or quarter (country subdivision), quarter of a city or town. A dzielnica may have its own elected council (''rada dzi ...

, or of a town, with its own council and executive. Like the

and

sołectwo A sołectwo ( Polish plural: ''sołectwa'') is an administrative unit in Poland, an optional subdivision of a gmina. The actions and organs of the sołectwo are decided by the gmina council. On 31 December 2018 Poland had 40 740 sołectwa. G ...

, an osiedle is an auxiliary unit (''jednostka pomocnicza'') of a

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

. These units are created by decision of the gmina council, and do not have

legal personality Legal capacity is a quality denoting either the legal aptitude of a person to have rights and liabilities (in this sense also called transaction capacity), or altogether the personhood itself in regard to an entity other than a natural person ( ...

in their own right. In the case of an urban-rural gmina, it is also possible for a whole town to be designated an auxiliary unit. Not all Polish cities or towns have ''osiedla'' in the above sense. However the word ''osiedle'' is also frequently used to denote any

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

or development. (In this sense it sometimes appears in addresses, where the abbreviation "Os." is commonly used.)

References

Polish Act of 8 March 1990 on gmina self-government, as amended
(in Polish) Subdivisions of Poland Types of administrative division {{poland-geo-stub