Tallinn’s Urban Planning Department has significantly increased the speed and efficiency of planning procedures in the first half of 2025. As of mid-year, decisions have been made on a total of 44 detailed plans — the same number as in the entire year of 2023 and 20 more than during the same period in 2024.

According to Deputy Mayor Madle Lippus, these results show that the city has not only met but exceeded its goal of processing at least 20 planning decisions per quarter. “It is important to highlight that the quality of work and public engagement has not suffered. The service has become faster and more user-friendly for both developers and residents,” said Lippus.

“We are also preparing to launch a new citywide comprehensive plan, which will directly impact the speed of planning procedures. The new plan aims to align our development strategy and spatial planning in time. The goal is to provide Tallinn with a modern and integrated vision for spatial development, enabling faster decisions on building rights while also clearly defining the expectations for high-quality urban spaces,” Lippus added.

In the first half of 2025, the city has initiated 14, adopted 17, and enacted 13 detailed plans. In addition, around 50 inactive planning procedures have been officially closed. For the construction and real estate sector, it is particularly relevant that the number of enacted plans in just half a year already equals the total for all of last year.

Martin Karro, head of the Urban Planning Department, noted the impact of recent workflow changes. “Since spring, a new work model allows the planning department to initiate many detailed plans directly, reducing the average processing time by approximately 700 days. We’ve also consolidated all planning information into a central planning dashboard, providing a real-time overview of all ongoing cases. Internal collaboration between city departments has significantly improved, and process changes have been integrated into a results-based management framework.”

In recent years, the Urban Planning Department has consistently invested in improving cooperation. Feedback has been gathered from both detailed planning coordinators and applicants for design specifications. Respondents particularly value architects’ accessibility, prompt communication, and improved processing speed. As a future development area, respondents highlighted the need for even more structured problem-solving and in-depth engagement in complex planning cases.

Looking ahead, one of the most important developments is the creation of a new Tallinn planning register, currently under development and scheduled for launch in summer 2026. The new register will improve usability and transparency for both developers and the public, including access to open data through a public statistics module.

Tallinn is increasingly moving toward data-driven decision-making. The city has already developed map-based tools to forecast demand for kindergartens and schools, and a similar tool for sports infrastructure planning is underway. These solutions help predict future needs and support smarter land use across the city.