Urban land-use planning is an important instrument of urban development and design. It has two stages and consists of the land use plan and the development plans. However, the municipalities must observe the overriding requirements of spatial planning and higher-ranking requirements from laws and ordinances.
The land use plan is a kind of preparatory plan for the municipal area. It shows in broad outline how the municipality is to develop in the future. Development plans only apply to parts of the municipal area and generally concretize the representations of the land use plan. They stipulate exactly what may be built on these areas.