ALPHA. Demokratiskolan.se is a PROTOTYPE · Content review in progress
Demokratiskolan
The Planning & architecture card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 100 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaPlaces & infrastructure
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence3 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Places & infrastructure

Planning & architecture

Urban planning & built environment

Before a building goes up, more decisions have already been made than most people realise: comprehensive plan, detailed development plan (detaljplan), building permit. The municipality holds the planning monopoly, the sole right to decide how land is used, and the consultations (samråd) along the way are your chance to help draw the lines.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · planning monopoly & permits · approx 60 %
  • Region · regional planning · approx 5 %
  • State · PBL, review & courts · approx 30 %
  • EU · environmental rules & building products · approx 5 %

The planning monopoly makes the municipality the main actor: the municipal election shapes the direction of building. Central government reviews and judges when someone appeals.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe planning monopoly · centre of gravity
The regionThe regional perspective
Central governmentThe law & the review
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the building committee, with the urban planning office as the drafter.
The regional council (regionfullmäktige). In Stockholm and Skåne with a statutory responsibility for regional planning.
The Riksdag, the National Board of Housing (Boverket), the County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen) and the land and environment courts.
What do they decide?
Comprehensive plan, detailed development plans (detaljplaner), building permits and land allocations: what gets built, where and how high.
Regional plans and background material on housing, commuting and green structure across municipal boundaries.
The planning and building act, national interests and shoreline protection. The County Administrative Board can stop plans, the courts review appeals.
Where are decisions made?
In the building committee and the council. Plan proposals are put on display and go out for consultation (samråd).
In the regional council and in dialogue with the municipalities.
In the Riksdag, at the County Administrative Board in your county and in the land and environment court.
Who pays?
The municipal tax and planning fees. Developers often pay for streets and pipes through agreements.
The regional tax: planning background material rather than building.
The central government budget: agencies, courts and certain building support.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election Respond to consultations on the comprehensive plan and detailed plans, appeal decisions that affect you.
Regional election Views when the regional plan goes out for consultation (samråd), where such a plan exists.
General election A referral response (remissvar) on legislative changes, appeal plans and permits that affect you.
EUThe EU governs environmental assessments and requirements for building products that the plans must meet. Shaped in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case A new block comes into being
  1. State

    The Riksdag has written the rules of the game

    The planning and building act governs the whole chain from idea to move-in, and Boverket guides the municipalities in how it is to be applied. The act requires consultation (samråd), and that is where you come in.

  2. Municipality

    The comprehensive plan points out the direction

    The municipality's comprehensive plan shows where the city is to grow over the coming decades. It is not legally binding but steers all later decisions.

    Point of influence

    The comprehensive plan always goes out for consultation (samråd). It is the best moment to influence the big picture.

  3. Municipality

    The detailed plan draws the block

    The building committee has a detailed development plan drawn up: exact boundaries for buildings, heights, courtyard and street. The proposal goes out for consultation and review, and all affected parties are to be heard.

    Point of influence

    Respond in writing during the consultation and the review. Anyone who has not submitted views generally loses the right to appeal the plan.

  4. State

    The County Administrative Board reviews, the court can examine

    The County Administrative Board, central government's arm in the county, watches over national interests, health and safety and can in special cases overturn the plan. Neighbours and other affected parties can appeal to the land and environment court.

    Point of influence

    An appeal is a formal right with a deadline, counted from the decision. Keep track of the dates.

  5. Municipality

    Building permit, the spade in the ground

    Once the plan has gained legal force, the developer applies for a building permit from the building committee. If the drawings match the plan, the permit must be granted. Then streets, pipes and buildings are built.

  6. Your everyday life

    The block fills with life

    The preschool in the courtyard, the stop and light in new windows. From the comprehensive plan's lines to move-in often took around ten years, with several points where anyone could have their say.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Where should your municipality build next, and what should be left untouched?

  2. Which voices are heard most in the consultations, and how could more people take part?

  3. Many years pass from plan to building. What may faster building cost in terms of influence?

  4. Who should have the final word when the neighbours' wishes and the housing shortage collide?

  5. How high and how dense do you want to live, and who should decide that?

Glossary

Planmonopol
The municipality's sole right to decide how land may be used and built on.
Översiktsplan
The municipality's long-term, guiding plan for land and water.
Detaljplan
Legally binding plan that governs exactly what may be built in an area.
Samråd
The formal stage when all affected parties get to have their say before a decision is made.
Bygglov
The building committee's permit to build in accordance with the detailed development plan.
PBL
The planning and building act, the law that governs planning and building.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.