Planning regulates land use and building. When planning land-use, planners consider, for instance, the location of neighbourhoods, places of work, parks and traffic. The planning is regulated by the Land Use and Building Act.
The Land-Use and Building Act with national land-use objectives give the guideline for planning future land-use. Planning is divided into various levels where a more general plan determines more detailed processes. Municipal plan is the most general level of planning.
A comprehensive plan determines community structures and land-use as well as integrates various functions. A town plan is a detailed land-use plan based on the comprehensive plan with areas and zones marked down for various functions determining building and other land-use.
In Hailuoto, comprehensive and town planning is prepared by the local authority and approved in most cases by the Municipal Council. The actual plans are drawn up by the Technical Board. And the municipal plan is drawn up by the Council of Oulu Region.