Firstly, a few words about the usage of the terms ‘spatial planning’ and ‘planning’ in Lithuania. Both terms – ‘spatial planning’ (erdvinis planavimas) and ‘territorial planning’ (teritorijų planavimas) – are used in Lithuanian planning culture today. Their respective meanings can vary.

The Lithuanian Law on Territorial Planning uses the term ‘territorial planning’ to refer to comprehensive territorial planning encompassing all levels – from the planning of the whole territory of the country to the planning of small areas. The Lithuanian Law on Territorial Planning says in its glossary Definition 26 of Article 2 of the Law on Territorial Planning of the Republic of Lithuania: Territorial planning is a process carried out in accordance with the requirements of this and other laws, as well as their implementing legal acts, which aims at sustainable development of territories and includes land use priorities, environmental protection, public health protection and other measures, the establishment of housing, production, engineering and social infrastructure systems, the creation of conditions for the regulation of the employment and development of the population, and the reconciliation of public and private interests.

The word ‘spatial’ has not completely disappeared from the law, planning documents or other spheres of life. For example, the Law on Territorial Planning of Lithuania considers one of the tasks of the General Plan of the State Territory ‘to establish guidelines for the implementation of the spatial development of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, the spatial structure of the state territory and its elements’ (Article 2, Chapter 11, The Law on Territorial Planning of the Republic of Lithuania). In the general plan of the territory of the Republic of Lithuania is a drawing called ‘Directions for spatial development’ (see examples), etc.

Despite the fact that ‘territorial planning’ (teritorijų planavimas) in Lithuania takes place in accordance with the Law on Territorial Planning, the subject ‘Spatial Planning’ (Erdvinis planavimas) is taught in Lithuanian universities. It can be deduced from the description of this academic subject that ‘spatial planning’ is considered to be something close to ‘territorial planning’. For example, the description in Lithuanian of the subject taught at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania states: ‘The purpose of the study subject is [...] to gain an understanding of the spatial and territorial planning system, levels and types [...]’ (Erdvinis planavimas (VZI). Vytauto didžiojo universitetas.  Available at: Dalykai | VDU (accessed 31 May 2021).

In the English description of the subject, the term ‘territorial planning’ is already disappearing – only ‘spatial planning’ is used.

In the following description of the Lithuanian planning system we use the term ‘territorial planning’ as it is given in the Lithuanian Law on Territorial Planning.

The first law regulating territorial planning in Lithuania was adopted before the Second World War.

After the war, Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union. Territorial planning became part of the Soviet Union’s planning system.

From a modern point of view, several features of the Soviet culture of territorial planning stand out. Territorial planning was not an activity governed by law. It was centralised, (considered to be) science-based and non-public. There was no law governing territorial planning. The decision to draw up any plan was made by the government, which set out the goals, objectives and duration of the plan. It approved the projects based on the territorial plans and realized them.

The system was based on the idea that science had to analyse reality and propose rational solutions. On the basis of the research results of scientific institutes, urban planning norms were drafted (planning covering larger areas of the territory did not take place in the USSR until the 1960s). Planners designed cities and districts therein, adapting those norms to a specific location.

Under this philosophy, there was no place for public participation in territorial planning. The Cold War state further reduced the desire to publish the town plans.

In 1964–67, the ‘Scheme for Urbanism and the Industrialisation of the Lithuanian Soviet Republic’ was drawn up in Lithuania by Lithuanian planners. This was the first plan in the history of the USSR to cover such a large area – the entire territory of the republic.

A new political and economic situation emerged in Lithuania after the restoration of independence in 1990. Lithuania became a market economy. The Soviet ‘planned economy’, and with it everything related to planning of any type, took on a negative meaning for many. At the same time, Lithuanian society was oriented towards the West. This played a significant role in the survival of territorial planning and in the features it began to take on.

Accession to the EU also played an important role: the basic principles of EU life are more or less accepted in Lithuania. Governance in Lithuania, and hence territorial planning, has become a democratic, legal, decentralised and public activity. The attention paid by Lithuanian society to the science of territorial planning and the training of territorial planning specialists has weakened dramatically.

The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania does not directly address planning, but it does indicate something that can be understood as preconditions for public administration activities, including territorial planning. For example, the Constitution states that ‘The Lithuanian economy is based on the right of private property, freedom of economic activity and personal initiative’, but also adds here that ‘The state regulates economic activities in such a way as to serve the general welfare of the nation’. (Article 46, Chapter 4). The Constitution states that ‘The state takes care of the protection of the natural environment, fauna and flora, natural objects and especially valuable areas, and supervises the moderate use and increase of natural resources’ (Article 54, Chapter 4).

The current territorial planning system consists of planning documents, which specify the regulation of the use of the territory, the participants in the planning process and the planning procedures. It is governed or influenced by a number of laws: the Law on Land, the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Property [Cultural heritage], the Law on Regional Planning, but above all by the Law on Territorial Planning (adopted in 1995 and amended many times).

The Law on Strategic Management was passed in 2020, and has more strongly incorporated territorial planning into the whole system of public management. This intensified the links between territorial and other types of planning and changed its character. For a long time territorial planning has performed the function of relatively free visioning and regulating the use of territories. Territorial planning visions are now becoming more rigorously based on ex-ante assessments of the financial, administrative, social and other impacts of decision. The monitoring of the achieved results has also been strengthened by the Law on Strategic Management of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublikos strateginio valdymo įstatymas) (Article 4.3, Chapter 1).

The Law on Territorial Planning divides territorial planning into three levels and two types.

The levels of territorial planning are:

(1) The state level. The planning of the entire territory or parts of the state territory takes place on this level. Planning is organised by the government (by a government-authorised body, which is the Ministry of the Environment for complex and some types of special planning). The body authorised by the government in such cases – the Ministry of the Environment – organises the preparation of state level territorial planning documents, territorial projects which are important to the state, special territorial planning documents for protected areas, and special territorial planning documents specified in other laws.

(2) The municipal level. The law assigns the planning of the entire territory of municipalities to this level. Detailed planning is in some cases also assigned to this level of planning. Planning is organised by the municipal administration.

(3) The locality level. The law assigns the planning of subareas of the municipal territory to this level. In some cases, the detailed planning is also assigned to this level of planning (Article 17, Chapter II of the Law on the Territorial Planning of the Republic of Lithuania). Planning at this level is organised by the municipal administration.

The essence of the competences of the government and the municipalities is described in the Law on Territorial Planning as follows: ‘The government formulates the state policy in the field of territorial planning.’ ‘Municipal institutions implement the state policy in the field of territorial planning by preparing territorial planning documents at the municipal and local levels,’ although there are some exceptions to this (Article 7, Chapter 1, The Law on Territorial Planning).

The types of territorial planning

The Law on Territorial Planning divides the territorial planning documents into two types: 1) complex territorial planning documents, and 2) special territorial planning documents.

The complex territorial planning documents include:

1) the general plan of the territory of the state and the general plans of parts of the territory of the state;

2) general plans of municipalities or parts thereof;

3) detailed plans (for both the municipal and the local planning level depending on the size of the planned area).

The special territorial planning documents include those relating to:

1) special territorial planning for land management: land management schemes, land management for rural development projects;

2) forest management schemes;

3) special territorial planning for protected areas: planning schemes for the system of protected areas or parts of them (boundary and management plans);

4) special territorial planning documents for the protection of immovable cultural heritage;

5) engineering infrastructure development plans;

6) plans for the use of mining resources.

The Law on Territorial Planning here makes some additional remarks:

‘In cases prescribed by law, other special territorial planning documents […] may be prepared.’ And: ‘Territorial planning documents for projects of national importance, taking into account the content of the project, shall be prepared as complex territorial planning documents or as special territorial planning documents’ (Article 5, Chapter 1 of The Law on Territorial Planning).

The Law on Territorial Planning only outlines the levels and very general tasks of special planning. All this is specified in the other relevant laws: Law on Land, Law on Subsoil, Law on Forests, Law on Protected Areas, Law on the Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage, Law on Roads and others. Each of these six laws provide for their own specific systems, activities and organisation, based on their own specific way of thinking.  Territorial planning is only a small part of those systems.

The relationship between complex and special territorial planning is basically determined by the following two points in the Law on Territorial Planning:

‘1. The decisions of the approved state-level special territorial planning document shall be binding on the other territorial planning documents, and shall establish measures for the use, management and/or protection of the territory for the preparation of other territorial planning documents at the same or lower level.

2. Decisions in special territorial planning documents (except for those related to land management) approved by the municipal council shall provide specifics of the decisions in the general municipal plan; the special territorial planning documents shall be recognised as part of the general municipal plan…’ (Article 22, Chapter 3, The Law on Territorial Planning).

The complex territorial planning system is described below, without going deeper into the sphere of special planning.

The complex plans

State planning level

The general plan of the state territory lays down the functional zoning for land use, a system of urban centres, the framework of the state protection of natural areas of European and national significance, the main state roads and other state transport infrastructure, energy objects of importance to the state, structures of tourism, recreation and resorts of importance to the state, the location of other objects of importance to the state (Article 12, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

Municipal planning level

General plans covering the entire territory of a municipality indicate: the functional zoning; the system of municipal centres[1] (many municipalities are not urban but rural territories); requirements for the use of protected areas and landscapes; a framework and system for natural areas including those of local significance and individual green areas; requirements for the protection of immovable cultural heritage at the local level of significance; principles of engineering and social infrastructure development; engineering communication corridors; land to be allocated to the most important objects, the location of which impacts the environment and public health (e.g. airports); existing urbanised and non-urbanised areas; requirements for the location of retail (in the urban areas); towns, districts and other areas for which local level plans are required; land to be reserved for objects important to the municipality; mining resources; the land for planned objects of state importance (areas for projects of national interest). The hierarchical structure of the centres is proposed by the planners and approved by the municipal council.

When preparing the general plans for city municipalities, the mandatory requirements for building intensity and building height are also established.

The local level general plans

In the local level general plans, the decisions of the municipal level plans are detailed (Article 15, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

Detailed plans are prepared for the urbanised areas determined in the general plans at the municipal level or local level when the development of the area is envisaged and/or when there is a change of use for the land therein. All detailed plans are valid for an unlimited duration or until territorial planning documents at the same level are approved.

The detailed plans set out the following regulations for the use of the site: the type and manner of use; the permissible height of buildings; the permissible building density and intensity of plots; the potential building types; the building construction area, boundaries and lines; the boundaries of the plots and (or) engineering communication corridors required for the engineering and social infrastructure; the stages of the development of the priority infrastructure in the municipality (Article 18, Chapter 2, The Law on Territorial Planning).

Special plans

Special territorial planning documents are prepared to deal with issues in a given area of planning, which can relate to natural areas, infrastructure, social development, construction or transport. Below is an example of a special plan for communications. In particular, a planning programme is drawn up, the purpose of the planning and the measures to be carried out are established, the current state is analysed, statistical information is collected and subsidence surveys are carried out.  Previously prepared planning documents are evaluated in relation to the objectives of the plan. A number of concepts are developed to be assessed in the strategic environmental impact assessment according to environmental, social and economic aspects. During discussions with institutions and the public, the most acceptable concept is chosen, the provisions of which are detailed when the solutions are developed. In the case of transport, this could be a network of public transport routes, a system of bypasses, the layout of car parks and parking garages, etc.

Once the solutions have been developed, they are coordinated with the issuing authorities and the public. When agreed, the territorial plan is examined and approved by the construction inspectorate. The solutions in special plans are transferred to complex spatial plans, which then become binding rather than purely guidance.

[1] The main categories of towns as the centres of national level are defined in the general plan of the territory of Lithuanian Republic. The small townships (in rural municipalities) and the districts of towns (in urbanised areas) are defined as centres in the general plans of the municipalities.

Territorial planning in Lithuania is public, except when it relates to territory required for national defence purposes, as well as state borders and objects of strategic importance related to classified information according to the state and official secrets of the Republic of Lithuania (Article 31, Chapter 6, Law on Territorial Planning). The principles of the Aarhus Convention are enshrined here.

State level planning

The preparation of general plans for the state territory is organised by the institution authorised by the government (usually the Ministry of Environment). The plan is then approved by the government.

The general plan for the state territory and general plans for subareas of the state territory are valid indefinitely (Article 11, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

The administrative details of their preparation are described above.

The law states the following about the implementation of state-level general plans (and to whom they apply): ‘The solutions contained in the general plans for the state territory and subareas of the state territory shall be implemented: 1) by detailing solutions in lower level territorial planning documents; 2) when the planning organiser prepares programmes for implementing the solutions, which are coordinated with long-term, medium-term or short-term planning documents, and which provide for the implementation of investment projects in the relevant territories and create conditions for attracting private investment’ (Article 13, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

Municipal level planning

General plans for the municipal territory or its subareas shall be prepared on the basis of a decision of the municipal council. Their preparation is organised by the municipal board. General plans at municipal level are approved by the municipal councils. The plans are valid until new territorial planning documents at the same level are developed and approved.

‘General plans at the municipal level […] are binding on state and municipal institutions and give them the right to act in the planning of funds and the preparation of detailed plans. General plans at the municipal level and at the local level are mandatory for all natural and legal persons or other organisations operating in the planned area if detailed plans have not been prepared’ (Article 14, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

Local level planning

Local level general plans are prepared on the basis of a decision by the municipal council.

‘General plans at […] local level are binding on state and municipal institutions and give them the right to act in the planning of funds and the preparation of detailed plans. General plans at the municipal level and at the local level are mandatory for all natural and legal persons or other organisations operating in the planned area if detailed plans have not been prepared’ (Article 14, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

Detailed planning is organised by the municipal administration, which also approves the detailed plans. They are valid indefinitely or until territorial planning documents at the same level are developed and approved (Minister of the Environment. Order on the Approval of Rules for the Preparation of Complex Territorial Planning Documents. Available at: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/9c064b207a7411e38df3da592f4236cc/asr 2021).

Detailed plans are mandatory for state and municipal institutions, all natural and legal persons or other organisations operating in the relevant territory (the use of areas for national defence and investments of national importance is somewhat more specific). Detailed plans give state and municipal institutions the right to act in planning funds (Article 17, Chapter 2, Law on Territorial Planning).

Each level of lower territorial planning must follow the solutions in the territorial planning document approved by the higher level of territorial planning, and detail them. The solutions in the territorial planning documents at the same level shall be mutually consistent, except in certain cases (territorial planning documents of national importance, e.g. mining use plans, have precedence over municipal-level documents) (Article 4, Chapter 1, The Law on Territorial Planning).