Contrasting Strategic Spatial Planning in Sweden and Finland: Managing Mineral Extraction, Competing Land-Uses and the ‘Green Transition’ in Sámi Territories

Abstract

<p>The accelerating ‘green transition’ in northern Sweden and Finland has intensified competition over land and natural resources, particularly in areas traditionally used for Sámi reindeer herding. Large-scale mineral extraction and renewable energy projects, reinforced by recent EU initiatives such as the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED III), place increasing pressure on national planning systems to deliver rapid yet sustainable decisions. This raises fundamental questions about the capacity of strategic spatial planning to manage cumulative effects, prioritise competing land-uses, and safeguard Indigenous rights. This article undertakes a legal-comparative analysis of strategic spatial planning instruments in Sweden and Finland. It examines, trends, the function and legal effects of regional plans, the role of the state and the responsible authority for regional planning, and the interaction with mining law and EU requirements. The analysis demonstrates that Sweden and Finland currently pursue fundamentally different approaches to strategic spatial planning. Finland retains a more integrated and legally structured planning hierarchy, where regional plans have a coordinating role in relation to mining and competing land uses, including Sámi reindeer herding. Sweden, by contrast, relies more heavily on sectoral legislation and permitting procedures. The article further shows that cumulative land-use pressures and landscape-scale conflicts are difficult to manage through municipal planning alone. It argues that recent EU legislation increases the need for stronger strategic and supra-municipal planning frameworks capable of coordinating competing land uses and integrating Indigenous rights and cumulative impact assessments into long-term land-use governance.</p>