The paper presents a method of urban diagnosis based on internal diversification analysis. The method has been created to obtain a tool for construction of a strategy resulting in improving quality of space. It takes into account specific determinants that are associated with internal relations within urban areas. This method has been developed at the Faculty of Architecture of Poznan University of Technology and implemented in the research on the Poznan Metropolitan Area. The concept of micro-divisions and internal diversification within metropolitan areas still remains a subject of discussion among professionals, as it is treated in a number of ways. The idea that the relations between structural units in urban space are not limited to the impact they have on one another and that intensity of such interrelations varies, constituted a significant element of the previous models. In recent models, the type (quality) of interaction between the units is perceived as a substantial element. From this point of view, the impact of one unit on another can be advantageous or damaging. By labelling the negative impact with a minus, positive one with a plus, and the lack of impact with a 0, all possible types of influence can be classified in six different ways: mutual negative impact between two units (-,-), mutual positive interactions (+,+), the (+,-) relation, the (+, 0) relation, the (-, 0) relation, the ( 0,0) relation. The above-mentioned types of relations became the basis for diagnosis of spatial conflicts and possibilities of sustainable development of the Poznan Metropolitan Area.
