How land is used affects a wide range of outcomes – from day-to-day quality of life, such as the length of commutes, to the environmental sustainability of urban and rural communities, including the possibility for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Moreover, the economic importance of land is immense. Land and the buildings on it are approximately seven times as valuable as all other assets taken together and land-use policies play a crucial role in determining land and property prices. Beyond economic value, land also has important sentimental value. Many people are strongly attached to existing neighbourhoods and landscapes in their vicinity. Thus, it is not surprising that land use is often contested and political conflicts about it are common at the local level.

This report brings together, for the first time, systematic overviews of planning systems for nearly all OECD countries. It is based on a new and extensive OECD survey of land-use governance, conducted in 2015 and 2016. Fact sheets on 32 countries present the respective planning systems and include diagrams showing the relationship of their spatial and land-use plans. Depending on data availability, most fact sheets also contain key facts on land-use trends in the country. All fact sheets follow the same structure and provide comparable information.

This chapter provides an overview of spatial and land-use planning systems across the OECD. It summarises the information presented in the subsequent country fact sheets and focuses on formal aspects of planning systems, as they are defined by laws and regulations. Among other topics, the chapter discusses the characteristics of different types of plans and how plans differ depending on the level of government that prepares them. It also discusses land value capture tools, land expropriation procedures and reforms of the planning system. The information provided in this chapter was collected through a survey that involved academic experts on planning from all 32 countries covered in this report.