ABSTRACT
In Finland, as in other Nordic countries, the discourse on efficiency in land-use planning has been lively in recent years. This chapter examines how the proponents of efficiency explicitly or implicitly answer this question and compares the answers with the goals put forth in the Land Use and Building Act of Finland, that is, goals related to sustainability within planning. The chapter explores the Finnish discourse on efficiency in planning by asking whether the fears of the international critics of neoliberalism are relevant also in the Finnish context, or whether there is still space for sustainability agendas. It focuses on views expressed by the private sector and pro-market actors, but it also examines how the public sector and independent research organizations have commented on the discourse. The chapter ends with a conclusion that not all of the arguments for greater efficiency in planning should be rejected as mere expressions of the neoliberal pursuit of short-term private profit.
