The Politics of Local Planning in Norway

Abstract

The aim of this article is to assess the political conditions for an efficient local planning, giving first an outline of the current planning system in Norway and turning then to the relationship between planning and local politics. The perceptions and attitudes of local concillors in relation to planning are presented on the basis of data from a questionnaire survey, which included about 400 local councillors in 16 Norwegian municipalities. The data suggest that a substantial majority of the councillors regard planning as an important policy-making activity. It is argued that in spite of the lack of success of local planning in terms of approved plans, it has been successful in encouraging local political debate and thereby contributed to the general decision-making process.