The Finnish Urban Land Readjustment Procedure in an International Context

The aim of urban land readjustment is to produce newbuilding land and to reorganise urban areas. The method used isdesigned to consolidate a group of adjoining land parcels fortheir unified planning and subdivision in an area with afragmented or an otherwise inappropriate property and ownershipstructure. The procedure can be considered either as a methodfor urban land development (by landowners) or as a tool forplanning implementation (by society). Different countries havereached different solutions depending on, for example, theplanning system already in existence and the attitude towardsthe responsibilities of the private and the public sectors inproducing urban land. The urban land readjustment procedure is very closely linkedto detailed local planning and other land use planning. Theprocedure is justified not only on the basis of cost andefficiency but also on the basis of its fair treatment oflandowners, improvements in plan quality, savings to thecommunity, and environmental benefits. In the readjustmentprocedure the land value changes can be fairly and equallydistributed among landowners. The procedure will therefore alsohelp to prevent planning speculation. As property boundariescan be disregarded when preparing the plan, the number ofpotential plan solutions will essentially be increased andfinally the quality of the plan itself improved. At the sametime the existing social structure can also be maintained. Theprocesses needed are, however, often very demanding andcomplicated and require those involved to display considerableexpertise. The decision-makers should also be familiar with theoperating mechanisms and options so that implementation of theprocedure is not jeopardised through ignorance. In 1997 a new Real Property Formation Act came into force inFinland which defined the Finnish urban land readjustmentprocedure. The strengths of the new procedure lie in itswell-defined structure and organisation, but it also has itsweaknesses. Although the aim of the procedure is to achievebetter detailed local plans, planners often do not know inpractice if the readjustment procedure can be carried out, dueto the extensive legal provisions. It seems, therefore, thatthe existing regulations are ineffective in meeting the needsof urban land readjustment, and further improvements areurgently required. Failure to take such measures will place injeopardy the future use of the procedure. By amending thestatutes and the proceedings the use of the urban landreadjustment procedure might become a familiar activity whendeveloping the urban structure in areas with fragmentedownership. Keywords: Land development, joint development, landmanagement, land use planning, plan implementation, propertyacquisition, cadastral procedure, law and economics.NR 2014080