New system?
We digitalise completely
What do we want to achieve by 2032?
Transformation to digital
The state administration has abandoned paper processes and thinks and acts digitally, in line with developments in society
Automation of services
Data from spatial plans and construction are unified in a common system and simple operations are automatised
Higher quality of life
Municipalities, cities, and regions actively create the territorial identity of the country and regularly involve citizens
Higher efficiency of construction
New data standards will improve construction planning, coordination between professions, reduce risks and introduce a digital lifecycle of construction documents
Digital twin and virtual modelling
Will help to actively create the territorial identity of the country and to virtually verify the benefits and risks of important construction plans
We digitalise conceptually
What principles do we respect?
According to the new law, all municipalities will have their own digital spatial plans and building permitting will be digital. In order for this change to be realistic, new, clean, modern, and transparent rules, valid for everyone, are being set in both areas. If we don't have the same rules for everyone, digitization is not possible. It is a basic condition for the transition to the digital age.
Moreover, existing paper processes cannot be converted into electronic form. We need new processes, modern, corresponding to the 21st technological century. Therefore, a detailed, thorough analysis of everything that takes place in the field of spatial planning and construction, down to the last, smallest step, took place.
Teams of experts researched the needs of everyone in spatial planning and construction and designed completely new, modern processes. There are no duplicities, ambiguities, unnecessary actions, or delays. Thanks to digitalization, a modern, technologically advanced agenda for construction and spatial planning is emerging.
The spatial planning and construction data being worked with will also be modernized. They must have a uniform form in order to be usable in a common system, comprehensible to the software, i.e. the so-called machine readable.
We have chosen new standards for data and information modeling of buildings. Ones that are commonly used in the world and therefore will be compatible with other systems. The IFC data standard (from the English Industry Foundation Classes) is a unified format for architectural and construction graphic data in the 3D real world. We will model buildings using BIM standards (from the English Building Information Model), that is, the information model of the building, CIM (from the English City Information Modeling) the information model of the city, and LIM (from the English Land Information Model), the information model of the territory.
With BIM, we create accurate digital models of future buildings and see their impact on the surrounding space. CIM extends BIM to the urban environment and enables more accurate and efficient planning and management of the city as a whole and its infrastructure. LIM helps to plan and manage the territory and its use. Planners, architects, builders, and engineers, all of whose expertise goes into spatial planning and construction, will prepare data for the new system in these standards.
A new large database of data is gradually created, and in order to work with it, it is divided into many flexible subsystems. Each area will function independently and at the same time, all areas will work together and exchange data through interfaces. In addition, each user receives only the data they need for their work tasks.
A significant benefit of digitization is automation. This means that, based on the inputs, the system will prepare all the documents in such a way that no human intervention is required. This is possible when digital processes are set up well (see the first principle) with comprehensible data in uniform forms (see the second principle). This creates a well-thought-out puzzle that can work independently, which means much faster resolution for client. For example, if the client places the design of a small building in the correct format in the digital spatial plan, all the necessary details are correct, i.e. in accordance with the spatial plan and without the need for statements from other parties, the system will automatically issue the document necessary for the building permit.
In the beginning, automation will work best for simple tasks, i.e. for well-prepared and correctly entered minor construction, when sending documents to further tasks, detecting errors in electronically submitted applications, and the like. Even when submitting applications, the system will not automatically allow you to send an incorrectly filled-out form. This will prevent investors from submitting forms with errors, and save the authorities from manual checks, thus speeding up the process.
The amount of data will gradually increase, the system will improve, and there will be more and more automatic actions. Later, artificial intelligence will be included in the system and automated processes will be further improved.
Intuitiveness and simplicity of applications and websites are the norm and a requirement today. The easier and more pleasant they are, the more successful the service or product they offer.
Products of the new system for spatial planning and construction are fast, modern, understandable, and intuitive services for all clients, from builders, and municipalities responsible for the spatial plan to state administration bodies responsible for providing statements for every construction permit.
The highest goal is to issue a building permit as simply and quickly as possible while maintaining all the necessary conditions for the development of the territory. In the field of spatial planning, it is not only the digital spatial plan but all services related to the provision of information and the participation of citizens in decision-making about it.
State administration and self-government will thus move to the level of high-quality digital services. A technological standard will be created that will last for many years and can be built upon.
The spatial plan is the highest development document for a territory. That is why we elevate it to its rightful place and make all cities, towns, and regions responsible for preparing their spatial plan in a modern, digital form. We will link construction to the spatial plan and only what is specified in the plan will be built, because the process will be automatic and the system will evaluate, without human intervention, whether the proposed building is in accordance with the master plan or not.
In this way, we are preparing the conditions for citizens to participate in shaping their territory to the maximum extent possible. A plan in digital form, comprehensible and accessible to residents, is the first prerequisite and necessary condition for this. Cities, municipalities, and regions have an obligation to open a social discussion about the spatial plan and to take into account the needs of all residents in the territory when creating it.
Creating a plan directly in digital form for the entire territory of Slovakia is a necessary condition for digitization and the success of the reform.
You can learn more about the vision for territorial planning 2032 here
How shall we achieve this
Activities that will get us to our goals
A condition for such extensive digitization is the legal obligation to carry it out. Therefore, the obligation to digitize the construction and spatial planning processes is enshrined in the new construction legislation, without losing the influence of any of the participating authorities.
Spatial planning and construction is a huge, important and society-wide agenda, to which we are introducing the first significant change in the last 40 years. Therefore, the transition to electronic form is spread over a period of ten years. All processes have been analyzed and new processes are designed and approved, in broad collaboration with experts. Currently, the setting of new, common rules for both areas and the first stages of the creation of intelligent digital forms, the verification of logical concepts, are underway.
Such a huge change required deep professional analysis of the entire spatial planning and construction agenda, and thus the input of many experts.
Therefore, for several years, from the moment when the change in legislation began to be considered, the team of creators involved experts from various industries in the process of analyzing and designing modern digital solutions. From state administration to local government, construction, architectural and engineering professions, urban planners, representatives of civil society, academia, and the private sector. The office conducts broad and open discussions and constantly participates in conferences and presentations on topics, in which it is the leader of change.
In addition, we are inspired by world leaders, consult our procedures with experts from other countries, and exchange experiences from already implemented projects. We are a modern, open office, ready to move Slovakia in the area of digitization of spatial planning and construction among intelligently managed countries.
The digital twin is a virtual image of Slovakia's reality. When the data in the spatial planning and construction processes is in the same format, this true and realistic digital image of the country will be created. It is then used for virtual planning and modeling of projects so that they best meet the needs of target groups of citizens and are in accordance with our environment. Thanks to uniform data, the model will not lose its relevance over time, on the contrary, it will be more and more accurate and will be able to be used by various interest groups, from entrepreneurs to the non-profit sector to individuals.
The digital twin is a very complex software platform composed of hundreds of technologies, data layers, and electronic services. It requires a huge amount of expert analysis, data, and process preparation, software architecture.
That's why we invited the world professional leader, Professor Jason Pomeroy from Cambridge University, Wolfson College, dedicated to designing sustainable cities, with a special emphasis on intelligent, digital, so-called, smart cities, to work alongside of our experts. In order to be sure that we are preparing such a complex digital twin in accordance with world standards, the professor and his team prepared an extensive analysis with proposals for us, titled Digital Twin Strategy.
The strategy is prepared in English and a professional translation is currently being created, which we will publish soon.
The Slovak counterpart and leader of the digital twin is the University of Košice. Teams of specialists are working to validate logical concepts and conduct pilot activities of area scanning and modeling to test the digital twin approach. Experts chose the town of Žiar nad Hronom as a pilot area for scanning. They agreed on it because it contains all the parameters of a territory such as public spaces, residential zones, industrial and agricultural zones, infrastructure, forests, meadows, and free nature. Simply very representative territorial components that need to be tested in a pilot project before scanning and data processing are done across the country.
The information system will consist of several platforms, a large number of digital processes, data, services, and entry portals for all users, creators, and administrators of the system. Preparing and verifying the feasibility of such a large project requires many thousands of hours of analytical and conceptual work by groups of experts. This task is led by the research team of the University of Košice in cooperation with the professional teams of the Office for Spatial Planning and Construction and external experts. We also verify the correctness of the procedure with foreign partners.
We verify the concept of the feasibility of processing 3D models of the territory and buildings in six main areas, which the teams of experts have chosen as representative: they are dentrology, i.e. 3D modeling of vegetation, intelligent zone plan, construction notification, house construction, monitoring of underground networks and road construction project.
These areas were chosen by experts to find, design and validate how these complex agendas can be translated into the digital world. After their feasibility is verified, the selected methods will be converted into a specification of the parameters for the system.
The first stage of digitization, in 2024, will be smart electronic forms for spatial planning and construction services. This means that processes that have been carried out on paper until now will be modernized and digitized. Using the example of a construction procedure, the builder submits an application and obtains a permit electronically.
The intelligence of the forms lies in the pre-filled fields that the builder does not have to fill in, because the same ones are already in the common data storage, connected to the form, and so the system itself will automatically fill in the data. The process is simplified and accelerated, there is no need to search for data, errors are avoided and therefore there is no need for control by the receiving office. Of course, it is important that the builder has activated other electronic services of the state, such as an electronic mailbox, signature, or eID.
Gradually, with the development of the information system, its intelligence will increase and the amount of pre-filled fields in the forms will increase. The so-called transaction processes will transform into automated electronic services. For example, when a builder submits an online notice of minor construction, in the world of automated services, he can get the permit in no time, as long as he meets the stopping conditions and does not require the statement of the affected persons or authorities.
Better quality of life through digitalisation?
What does it mean for us?
Territorial planning will be more transparent
More accurate and timely information about upcoming changes in the territory will make it easier for citizens to participate in decision-making about the development of their city, village, or region.
The digital twin will help us to model in advance and thus better plan how to appropriately arrange residential, commercial, and public spaces. By making smarter decisions, we will improve the availability of services in every territory.
Environmental surveillance will improve
Each city, town and region prepares a digital spatial plan in which it can accurately model and allocate areas that need to be protected.
It can reduce the negative impact of construction on the environment and better protect natural resources. Plan infrastructure and roads more carefully and thereby help improve the quality of air, water, and soil in their territory.
The business environment will strengthen
A faster process of building permits and better information about planned changes in the territory will help to implement business plans more effectively.
This will strengthen the business environment in the territory, economic growth and the opening of new job opportunities.
Technology will improve decision-making and communication
We will use remote sensing of the Earth, artificial intelligence, or the Internet of Things to collect and analyze data about the environment, transport, or infrastructure.
New digital tools and platforms will facilitate communication and introduce a completely new standard of work in spatial planning and construction.
Culture and history will become visible
The territorial plan will help municipalities and cities take better account of the cultural heritage and history of the territory, as they will also have to be made visible in the process of creating the plan.
Municipalities can decide to support the development of the cultural and tourist industry, thus increasing the attractiveness of the territory for visitors and residents.
There will be fair conditions for planning services
When the country is covered by a spatial plan, the distribution of public services becomes visible.
It will be possible to better plan the availability of healthcare, housing, education and culture within the territory. Public transport and the accessibility of public spaces for residents will be improved.