Zoning

Zoning involves planning how and for what purpose the city's land areas are used.

Zoning is regulated by national objectives set for land use, as well as the Land Use and Building Act and Land Use and Building Decree.  There are three different levels of plans: regional plan, local master plan and local detailed plan.  The more general plan serves as the model when preparing the more detailed plans.

Zoning is used to reserve areas to fulfil needs generally considered pleasant, such as housing, services, or beaches and outdoor recreation.  By the same token, in zoning, areas must also be reserved for needs with less desirable environmental effects.  These include waste management, traffic routes, parking, power plants, and industry.

A pan-European thought is that planning land use is a matter, which needs to be jointly agreed upon.  It has been considered a means to secure a purposeful and sustainable community structure.

During zoning, basic information pertaining to each plan, as well as opinions, values, and the anticipated effects of the plan must be represented.  Quite often, conflicts of interest arise in connection with this work.  In such instances, different points of view with their positive and negative characteristics are presented to the decision makers, who are ultimately responsible for finding the right solutions.  Zoning, and planning in general, consists primarily of making choices.