The effectiveness and legitimacy of democratic governance in modern states depend critically on the government’s ability to coordinate decision-making processes in the environment of ever-changing urban-rural relations. Moreover, policy-making at national and subnational levels undeniably necessitates both horizontal and vertical coordination. However, the strategies for establishing legal frameworks and practical approaches to coordination across levels of government and across territorial units can vary greatly between countries. The legal solutions that Poland has adopted in this field are quite specific and deserve an in-depth analysis. The Joint Commission of the Government and Territorial Self-Government provides a platform for representing the interests of the three levels of local government towards the central government as well as a forum for articulating the positions, problems and needs of rural, urban and metropolitan local governments. The aim of this analysis is to present the concept and model of intergovernmental coordination in a decentralized unitary state as well as the role of local government organizations for the functioning of the Joint Commission.