The digital transformation of planning systems is ongoing in many countries (ESPON DIGIPLAN, 2021). Using geodata and producing maps digitally has been an established practice for several decades. However, the digitalisation and, with it, standardization and harmonization of spatial, municipal or land use plans and the planning processes, has come into focus in the past decade. Also, plans and plan data get increasingly digitally integrated with other fields of governance beyond planning (e.g. taxing, construction sector, climate accounting).
In the Nordic countries, digitalisation in planning is advancing quickly, however, planning systems and plans are different. For example, in Sweden the legally binding part of a ‘detaljplan’ is basically a map including all regulations annotated on it, while ‘lokalplaner’ in Denmark consist of regulations written in text of different lengths, with often only a very basic map showing plan areas. Of course, also processes e.g. regarding public consultation (when and how long), are different. This provides different points of departure for the digital transformation of the planning systems.
Looking at the digital plan systems for municipal land use plans and partially local / detailed plans, the paper focuses especially on three topics: (1) The state of the digital plans (accessibility, functionality, legal status…); (2) changes of plan characteristics and processes related to digitalisation; and (3) use of digital plans and plan data beyond the field of planning.
The topics will be discussed based on insights from interviews with experts from the respective national planning authorities. The paper will not deliver an in-depth analysis of the digitalisation processes, but provide a comparative view of the current status and prospects of digital plans in the Nordic countries.