General and Detailed Planning in Sweden

The development of the cultural landscape and building is governed by the constraints provided by social planning, in particular physical planning. This aims at the long-term use of resourses and the co-ordination of vaious land uses for society's needs. Physical planning deals with the exploitation of land, water and other natural resources, and the location of buildings and facilities of vaious kinds. Housing planning is one important part of the municipalities' responsibilities.

Physical planning is regulated by a number of laws. The Natural resources Act (NRL) which is based on national physical planning is an umbrella law operating mainly through other laws, primarily The Planning and Building Act (PBL). The these laws were passed in 1987. The overall aim of the NRL is stated in the opening paragraph: "Land, water and other aspects of the physical environment are to be used in a way that promotes their good long-term utilisation from ecological, social and economic points of view.

The PBL regulates the plans that are to be or should be drawn up and applied in various contexts. In addition the PBL includes the requirements that are to be applied to buildings with regard to energy, water, load-bearing capacity, accessibility, appropriateness to the surroundings, enjoyment, hygiene, fire security and so on.

The General Plan is the municipal plan. The introduction of the general plan dealt for the first time with the overall balance of the future development of the whole of a municipality, its land and its water. It is not binding, but for future decisions concerning  the use of land and water, natural resources and building it is an advantage if these issues are treated with care and concern in the general plan. A general plan should give the outline of plans concerning the proposed use of land and water in the municipality, changes in and conservation of buildings, and the way in which the municipality intends to satisfy national interests expressed in the NRL with regard to major roads, areas important for nature and culture conservation programmes, the provision of adequate recreational areas and so on. A general plan is a kind of political programme, stating the municipal council's goals concerning the physical development of the municipality.

District regulations are binding and are used to ensure that the aims of general plans are attained. District regulations may be drawn up for limited areas, but they may also be used to secure national interests.

Detailed Plans are binding; they are used to achieve a balance between public and private interests. These plans assess the suitability of land for building and regulate the building environment. Sometimes it may prove necessary and practical to adopt a Property Plan within a detailed-plan area. A property plan may be needed to draw up plans for a project, to clarify property holdings and facilitate the transfer of property, and to plan and construct jointly-owned facilities.

In general  permission from the municipality is needed before a building is erected, or extensions or substantial changes in the use of a building are made, like converting a housing unit into an office.

Changes in legislation concerning types of plans mean that it is common for legally binding regulations and plans from different periods to apply to different parts of a district. This also affects the way in which building work develops. Each and every part of Sweden's land is subject to restrictions specified in one or more paragraphs of a law or a plan.

SNA 2004-07-19