Land Use Act (132/1999) establishes the legal framework for land-use planning and the planning and use of areas in Finland. Its objectives include creating a good living environment and promoting ecologically, economically, socially and culturally sustainable development, while ensuring public participation, transparency and high-quality planning. The Act regulates the Finnish land-use planning system, including national land-use guidelines, regional planning, municipal master and detailed plans, impact assessment, planning procedures and public participation, and defines the roles of national, regional and municipal authorities. Environmental considerations are integrated into planning, including the assessment of impacts on the environment and sustainable use of land and natural resources.
Act 752/2023 substantially reorganised the legislation by removing the building-related provisions and changing the Act's name from the Land Use and Building Act to the Land Use Act, effective 1 January 2025. The building provisions were transferred to the separate Construction Act (751/2023), while the amended 132/1999 continues to govern land-use planning.
The Act is supplemented by the <a href="https://www.finlex.fi/fi/lainsaadanto/1999/895" target="_self"><ins>Land Use and Building Decree (895/1999)</ins></a>, which provides detailed rules on planning procedures, plan content, environmental impact assessment, public participation and other aspects of land-use planning

Land Use and Building Act, as amended by Act 752/2023 to Land Use Act (Act 132/1999)

The summary of this document was written by researchers at the <a href="http://lse.ac.uk/grantham" target="_blank"> Grantham Research Institute </a> . If you want to use this summary, please check <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/cclw-terms-and-conditions" target="_blank"> terms of use </a> for citation and licensing of third party data.

Decree 895/1999

Amended/Updated

Finland

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Compulsory, required payments to the government that are levied more-or-less in proportion to the services provided. Fees and charges range from entrance fees to national parks, charges on land-based sewage discharge.

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

the fair distribution of risks and opportunities of climate change and the transition to a regenerative economy, cognisant in particular of disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities and the working class

Procedural justice means ensuring that decision making is safe, transparent and inclusive, emphasizing the agency and influence of vulnerable groups and those most impacted.

Decree 895/1999

Policy instrument

Climate justice

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance