EN
The creation of conditions for improvement of the quality of life in a local community is the goal of development policies at each level of local government. A special role will be played here by the gmina (commune) local government as it is vested with decision- making powers and provided with various instruments. Of crucial importance for shaping long-term development policies at the local level are planning instruments. Preliminary observations show that the improvement of life quality as an objective usually exists in the consciousness of local government authorities but actions are as a rule taken as a response to current stimuli and factors and they do not always correspond to the objectives and priorities adopted in the planning documents. In light of the foregoing, the goal of this study is to identify local policies concerning improvement of the quality of life in rural communes, based on the analysis of their local strategies and on interviews with representatives of local government authorities. Studies covered the rural communes of the Janów district in the Lubelskie province.