Know the concepts in planning

In Finland, zoning is carried out by municipalities and cities. The planners employed by the city produce plans together with various experts, authorities and landowners. Their background may be in architecture, engineering, traffic planning, landscape architecture, etc. The planner’s work is guided by many constraints and regulations. The planner also takes feedback from residents into account in the work and eventually reconciles it all into a plan.

Some of the plans are approved by the City Planning Committee. Some of the plans will move on to be approved by the City Board, while others will be approved by the City Council.

In zoning and planning, the term ‘interested party’ refers to everyone whose housing, work or other conditions may be significantly affected by the plan. They must be offered the opportunity to participate in the preparation of the plan, to assess the impacts of the plan and to express their views. Participants may include:

• landowners and residents of the planning area,
• neighbours and residents of a neighbouring area,
• those working or studying in the area,
• resident associations and entrepreneurs operating in the area, etc.

Authorities and corporations are interested parties when planning concerns their sector. The planners organise the cooperation with the authorities and other necessary experts during the planning work.

The local detailed plan steers the construction and use of an individual area, such as a block or plot. For example, it shows how many and what kinds of buildings can be built, where the streets run, where green spaces come in, and what is already protected in the area. After the local detailed plan is approved and takes effect, the construction in the area can begin. The landowner must then apply for a construction permit.

As the name suggests, the master plan is a general plan. It guides the more detailed planning, that is, the preparation of local detailed plans.

The master plan steers long-term development in the city. When the master plan is produced, it includes anticipation regarding several decades. The purpose of the master plan is to steer change in the city in a desired direction.

The master plan may apply to the entire municipality or a part of it. A master plan produced only concerning a certain area of a municipality is called a partial master plan.

A plan typically consists of a plan map and plan regulations. They define, among other things, the use of different areas, the boundaries of blocks and street areas, building rights and floor numbers of buildings.

A plan map refers to a legal plan drawing. The plan map contains plan symbols that show area boundaries, uses, amounts of construction and other details and descriptions related to the use of the area. In practice, plan notation includes various colour ranges, letters and numbers, lines, grids and symbols. Plan regulations explain and specify plan maps verbally.

The written plan report is another important document. It explains what kind of solution has been decided upon during the planning work and on what grounds. It also presents the impacts of the plan solution.

Legal effect means that the plan has direct effects on, for example, the granting of construction permits and land use. In other words, the plan creates binding rules and restrictions for both public authorities and private operators.

Local detailed planning starts when the landowner applies for a local detailed plan or a change to a local detailed plan for the area, or when the city starts planning on city land. The initiation of the planning process means that work on the plan begins.  The City Planning Department begins to produce a plan if it is considered justified in relation to the city’s strategy, commitments and master plan, among other things.

The planning process includes both the planning of the plan and the administrative processing of the plan. Planning proceeds in stages. Residents and other interested parties have the opportunity to participate at many different stages. In Espoo, local detailed planning proceeds as follows:

• During the initial stage, the planners compile the basic data required for the plan. Objectives are set for the plan.
• During the preparation stage, the planners prepare the participation and assessment scheme and the plan preparation material. The material is made available for public review and people can leave an opinion on it.
• During the proposal stage, the planners prepare a plan proposal in which they take into account the initial information, objectives and feedback received during the preparation stage. The plan proposal is made available for public review and people can leave an objection to it.
• During the approval stage, the planners prepare the plan for approval. Elected officials decide on approving the plan.
• After the approval decision, the plan is declared effective, that is feasible for implementation, if there is no appeal to the Administrative Court or if the court dismisses the appeal.

Read a more detailed description of the process and opportunities to participate in local detailed planning at different stages.

Read a more detailed description of the process and opportunities to participate in master planning at different stages.

A public notice is an official notice from a municipality or other authority to the public or to the people whose lives may be affected by the matter announced. In zoning and planning, a public notice is made on the initiation of plans, the availability of the preparation material and the plan proposal, the decision to approve the plan and its entry into force, and resident events.

Public review means that the new plan or plan change under way are publicly available for everyone to view and comment on the city’s website. During that time, you can leave an opinion on or an objection to the plans.  Typically, the material is available for 30 days.

Espoo public notices and available plans can be found on the city’s website: www.espoo.fi/en/services/announcements. You can also browse the website at Espoo Urban Environment Customer Service (Tekniikantie 15, 2nd floor, Otaniemi) and at Espoo service points.

Legal effect of the plan means that the decision approving the plan has become final at the end of the appeal period or after the appeals have been processed. The plan is announced if no one appeals the approval decision within the time limit, or if the appeals are dismissed by the Administrative Court or the Supreme Administrative Court. When the plan is final, it steers construction and land use in the area.

The participation and assessment scheme explains:

• why the plan or plan change is being made
• what is being planned and how will the planning work proceed
• how will the effects of the plan be assessed during the work
• how can residents and other interested parties participate and influence planning.

Once the planning starts, a participation and assessment scheme is produced for almost every plan. It is often referred to as OAS.

In Espoo’s local detailed planning, the plan’s participation and assessment scheme and the plan preparation material are presented as one document. Residents can give feedback on both.

As indicated by the name, the preparation material is published at the preparation stage of the planning, at the early stage of the work. It may contain preliminary illustrations or alternative options of what is being planned, etc.

An illustration is an image or other visualisation that presents the plan as a three-dimensional model as part of the environment. The illustration can help perceive, for example, the appearance, features and scale of buildings as well as the street and green environment.

In Espoo’s local detailed planning, the plan’s participation and assessment scheme and the plan preparation material are presented as one document. Residents can give feedback on both.

The plan summary is a document prepared during the planning process.  It explains what kind of solution has been decided upon during the planning work and on what grounds. The plan summary contains information on, for example:

• the history and current state of the area
• the objectives of the planning
• the effects of the plan and the reports produced
• the key content of the chosen plan solution
• participation and interaction.

A completed plan typically consists of a plan map and plan regulations. These define, among other things, the uses and boundaries of the area, the boundaries of plots, the building rights and the floor numbers of buildings.

A plan map refers to a legal plan drawing. The plan map contains plan symbols that show the boundaries, uses, volumes of construction and other definitions that steer the use of the areas. In practice, plan notation includes various colour ranges, letters, lines, grids and symbols. Plan regulations explain and specify plan maps verbally.

Feedback on the plan from a resident or other interested party is called an opinion, and it is submitted during the preparation stage of the plan. On the other hand, an objection is feedback given later, at the proposal stage. In practice, both are free-form messages sent to the city registry when the plan is available for public review. In both cases, it is important to include the name of the plan and the area number.

At the preparation stage, planning is only beginning, so new perspectives and suggestions can also be presented in the opinion. If you think there are good aspects in the material, it is also a good idea to give feedback on them so that they are maintained as the planning proceeds. At the proposal stage, planning is already further along, so it is a good idea to give more detailed feedback at that stage.

An important part of the discussion of opinions and objections is a written response. In other words, the feedback on the plan provided by residents is answered in writing. A response is produced to both opinions on and objections to the plan. The responses are processed and approved by the Urban Planning Board when it processes the plan. As a result, the opinions at the preparatory stage will be responded to during the proposal stage of the plan. Objections at the proposal stage, on the other hand, are responded to at the approval stage.

In addition to opinions and objections, opinions on the plan are also requested. They are provided, for example, by authorities and neighbouring municipalities, not by individual residents. A reguested opinion is a document or a set of documents by which an operator who has received a request for an opinion presents their views on the plan.

Sometimes, regional planning is carried out on a larger area, such as a neighbourhood, called a district plan. It illustrates the objectives set in the local master plan in more detail and guides future local detailed plans. District plans do not have legal effect like master plans do.

In addition to district plans, other regional-level planning work can also be carried out. They are referred to as land use reviews. In addition to district plans, land use reviews include regional development targets and vision work.

The effective detailed plan is a combination of local detailed plans in effect in the municipality’s area. You can view Espoo’s effective detailed plan in the map service maintained by the city(external link, opens in a new window).

Area efficiency is a key figure often used in zoning, indicating the amount of built floor area in relation to the land area indicated in the plan. Area density is strongly linked to the number of residents in the area, and thus also to the street network, the transport connections and other infrastructure and services in the area. The higher the area density, the more inhabitants there are and the more dense the street, transport and service network is.

Areas with higher area density are often dominated by blocks of flats, but it is sometimes possible to achieve the same area density with different types of houses. You can find the current area density data of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area as open data on the Helsinki Region Infoshare website(external link, opens in a new window).