EN
The article is composed of three major parts. The first part is dedicated to analyzing the concept of local development. It provides an overview of factors determining development of communes and argues that development should be treated as an overriding objective in managing communes. The second part of the article is devoted to presenting a method of measuring the level of socio-economic development on a communal level. The article presents a Composite Development Index constructed using 10 partial indices relating to various socio-economical dimensions of communal development. The article is concluded with an analysis of development levels in communes of Łódź region.