Suunnittelujärjestelmän sielunmessu? Alueidenkäytön lupaohjauksen kehitys
Keywords:
ympäristöoikeus, kaavoitus- ja rakentamisoikeus, suunnittelutarvealue, kaavoitusAbstract
A requiem for a planning system? Evolution of permits for unplanned development
Finnish land use planning and building legislation is set to change significantly at the beginning of 2025, when the Building Act (751/2023) takes effect. One of the most significant changes concerns the regulation of unplanned development. On a systemic level, the changes are significant, even if they may appear minor on the surface. This is due to the fact that the changes concern the core ideas of the system as a whole, namely the obligation to plan development that is either dense or has significant impacts. These repercussions seem to have gone unnoticed throughout the legislative process and, as a consequence, the impact assessment and fundamental rights considerations have been disregarded.
The new Building Act is already under revision, however these revisions are taking place not to remedy the flaws discussed, but to take further steps in the direction criticised in this article. The proposal would allow, for example, large industrial plants, such as battery factories, to be realised without land use planning. In the article, these changes are critically assessed by detailing the evolution of the system and its functions and principles, establishing an understanding of the system that has been lacking in the legislative revisions concerning the provisions discussed. The analysis of the law drafting materials inevitably raises questions about the quality of law drafting.
