Overview of urban land-use planning
Urban land-use planning is the most important planning instrument for controlling the urban development of municipalities in Germany. Urban land-use planning is carried out in a two-stage process, which is comprehensively regulated in the Federal Building Code (BauGB).
In the first stage, the land use plan (preparatory urban land use plan) is drawn up for the entire municipal area. It presents the general spatial planning and development objectives of a municipality in a comprehensive manner and is constantly updated through amendment procedures. It shows the general outline of the type of land use resulting from the intended urban development.
Based on this, development plans (binding land-use plans) are drawn up, which stipulate the structural and other use of land in individual municipal areas in detail and in a generally binding manner.
Land use plan (preparatory land-use plan)
The land use plan (FNP) of the city of Jena in the version of September 2005 has been effective since 09.03.2006. Further comprehensive information on the land use plan of the city of Jena can be found here.(link is external)
Development plans (binding land-use plans)
A development plan is issued as a legal ordinance and regulates the possible uses of all properties within the scope of this development plan. For example, it stipulates whether or to what extent a property may be built on.
The development plan can also stipulate that no development is possible at all because a green area, playground, road or similar is planned. The possible content of a development plan is defined in Section 9 of the German Building Code (BauGB).
The regulations in the development plan are usually developed from the specifications of the land use plan and specify the municipality's urban planning activities. The development plan therefore contains the legally binding stipulations for the urban development order.
Types of development plans
Simple development plan
A simple development plan exists if neither the requirements of a qualified nor a project-related development plan are met. In principle, they do not conclusively regulate the permissibility of building projects under building planning law. The assessment of the facts or the building project for which the provision is missing is carried out in accordance with Section 34 BauGB(link is external) (if in the inner area) or Section 35 BauGB(link is external) (if in the outer area). The development in the immediate vicinity is therefore used for the missing provision.
Qualified development plan
A qualified development plan exists if the development plan contains at least the following stipulations
- the type and extent of building use,
- the areas of land that can be built on and
- the local traffic areas
contains. If a building plot lies within the scope of a qualified development plan, a building project is permitted under planning law if it does not contradict the provisions of the development plan and the development is secured.
Project-related development plan
Project-related development plans can be drawn up by the municipalities on the basis of a project and development plan agreed between a (private) developer and the municipality. The prerequisite is that the developer is willing and able to carry out the project and the development measures and undertakes to carry out the measures in an implementation agreement.
The application for the preparation of a project-related development plan is available under Downloads.
Procedure for the preparation of an urban land-use plan in the standard procedure
Initiation of the procedure
The initiative to draw up an urban land-use plan comes from the administration, politicians, investors or citizens. There is no entitlement to the preparation of urban land-use plans and this cannot be established by a contract (Section 1 (3) BauGB).
The city council or the responsible specialist committee (in Jena, the urban development and environment committee) first determines the necessity of a development plan / project-related development plan by means of an initiation resolution (also known as an establishment resolution) in accordance with Section 2 (1) BauGB.
Preparation of the preliminary draft
Following the initiation decision, the responsible specialist department - often in cooperation with a planning office - prepares planning alternatives or preliminary drafts of the development plan. Once these are available, the administration usually informs the public (Section 3 (1) BauGB) and public agencies (Section 4 (1) BauGB) at an early stage.
The purpose of early information is to make the objectives and purposes of the planning and possible alternatives known so that concerns, suggestions for improvement and ideas can be included in the draft. In this context, invitations are often extended to an information event at which the planning status can be publicly discussed with representatives of the administration and politicians. The authorities, associations and other specialist departments are involved independently of this.
Preparation of the draft
Taking into account the results of the early participation of the public and the authorities, the administration prepares a draft plan that further substantiates the plans and contains more concrete specifications.
The urban development committee (preliminary consultation) and the city council must approve the draft development plan and decide on its public display for a period of one month, but for at least 30 days, or for a longer period if there is an important reason (Section 3 (2) BauGB). The location and duration of this public display must be announced at least one week in advance.
During the public display, comments on the planning can be submitted again, to which all citizens are entitled, even if they are not directly affected by the planning. At the same time, the affected authorities, organizations and so-called public agencies are notified of the public display of the draft and asked to comment if they are affected.
Decision to consider and approve the development plan
The comments received are processed by the administration and submitted to the city council for a decision. The council must then weigh up the public and private concerns (interests) fairly (Section 1 (7) BauGB) and decide whether to take them into account or reject them (Section 3 (2) BauGB). Those submitting comments must be informed of the outcome of the decision.
If the consideration of the comments leads to significant changes, a new draft must be prepared and a new publication carried out (Section 4a (3) BauGB).
If the comments are irrelevant to the planning and do not lead to any significant changes to the plan, the procedure is continued and the urban land-use plan is concluded with the resolution to adopt the statutes (Section 10 BauGB).
Legal force
The development plan comes into force with the publication of the resolution on the articles of association (Section 10 (3) BauGB).
The legally binding development plans can be inspected by anyone at any time at the relevant specialist department together with the attached explanatory memorandum.
Participation opportunities
As part of the procedure for drawing up development plans, there are generally two phases for submitting suggestions, comments and opinions:
1. early public participation (Section 3 (1) BauGB)
In the first stage of public participation, citizens are informed of the planning intentions as early as possible. The subject of the information is the general objectives and purposes of the planning, possible planning alternatives that could be considered for the redesign or development of the planning area, as well as the likely effects of the planning.
The plans are usually put on public display for this purpose. During the public display period, anyone has the opportunity to comment on the plans. Taking into account the results of this early public participation, the responsible specialist service prepares a draft for the further planning procedure. The method of early information shall be announced at least in the official gazette.
2nd public display (Section 3 (2) BauGB)
In the second stage of public participation, the coordinated draft plan, into which the results of the early public participation have been incorporated, including the plan justification, is put on public display for a period of one month (or longer). The location and duration of this public display will be published in the official gazette at least one week in advance. Corresponding information is also available on the Internet. During the public display period, anyone can make suggestions and requests for changes to the plans. This can be done by letter, e-mail or verbal comments, which can be recorded on site.
The administration evaluates the suggestions received, weighs them up and submits them to the city council for a decision. The city council weighs up the public and private interests against each other and among themselves and decides whether to take them into account or reject them. The submitters are informed of the result of the city council's decision in writing.
You can view current public interpretations here.