Built environment

	Built environment in Helsinki. Photo: Pirjo Ferin

About a tenth of the total area of Finland has been built up or in some way radically shaped by man. This area includes buildings, other structures, harbours, airports, roads, streets, railways and other tracks, power lines, paved areas, parks, and other landscaped areas. Many more natural green areas can also still be found even within built-up areas.

Assessments of the built environment particularly focus on communities and their functionality, on integrating community structure, on developments in community planning, on the overall quality of the residential environment, on preserving our heritage, on the provision of green areas and outdoor recreation areas, and on the use of shores. It is also important to consider the ways the built environment interacts with natural habitats.

Comprehensive data from geographical information systems helps planners in Finland to get a good overall picture of the built environment, along with information obtained from other registers and special surveys. Finland's environmental administration develops and manages detailed information systems covering land use throughout the country, in close co-operation with the producers and users of this data, in order to support research, monitoring and decision-making.