In the Act on the Principles of Development Policy, the legislator has indicated that the main tool for implementing development policy is the municipal development strategy. In addition, it has identified which actors are carrying out the development policy. One of the ways to monitor the progress of the strategy is the report on the state of the municipality. In 2023, a number of legislative changes were undertaken that significantly affect the functioning of municipalities (more broadly, local government units). On 1 January 2026, regulations will enter into force that will significantly change the nature of the municipal development strategy. The aims of the article are: (1) to establish what development policy is and what the tools for its implementation are, (2) to determine what factors inhibit the development of a municipality, (3) to indicate de lege ferenda postulates in connection with the above-mentioned issues. A dogmatic-legal method was adopted as a research method, along with the study of the positions of the Polish doctrine, as well as the qualitative research using the FGI method. This analysis is important for science because it relates to the foundations of local self-government, on which research must be conducted on a permanent basis, due to changing circumstances and legal conditions.