Area purpose
Area purpose (arealformål) is the set of statutory categories that divide a plan area into zones for different types of use, from housing and business to outdoor recreation and agriculture. The area purpose decides what you may lawfully build on a site and what you may use it for, and it is the first thing you check when a property is assessed for development.
The legal basis is plan- og bygningsloven § 11-7 (the Norwegian Planning and Building Act) for the municipality plan and § 12-5 for the zoning plan. The same set of six main purposes is used in both plan types, and the categorisation is shared across the whole country:
- Bebyggelse og anlegg, buildings and installations (housing, business, public services, sport, holiday homes)
- Samferdselsanlegg og teknisk infrastruktur, transport installations and technical infrastructure (road, rail, port, airport, cable and pipeline routes)
- Grønnstruktur, green structure (natural areas, walking corridors, open-air areas, parks)
- Forsvaret, defence
- Landbruks-, natur- og friluftsformål samt reindrift (LNFR), agriculture, nature, outdoor recreation and reindeer husbandry
- Bruk og vern av sjø og vassdrag, use and protection of sea and watercourses
Each main purpose can be split further into sub-purposes under the SOSI standard, for example:
- BBB Boligbebyggelse, housing
- BFR Fritidsbebyggelse, holiday homes
- BKB Kombinert bebyggelse og anleggsformål, combined buildings and installations
- BFG Forretning, retail
- BKO Kontor, office
- BIN Industri, industry
- BOP Offentlig tjenesteyting, public services
- BUT Uteoppholdsareal, outdoor amenity space (typically for housing)
- GS Grøntstruktur, green structure
The sub-purposes are combined with consideration zones under plan- og bygningsloven § 11-8 and § 12-6, which place extra restrictions on top of the purpose polygon itself. The provisions tied to the purpose (development density as %BYA or %UFA, eaves height, ridge height, parking standard) are given in the plan map itself and in the accompanying zoning provisions.
The LNFR purpose (Agriculture, Nature, Outdoor life and Reindeer husbandry) is the largest area purpose in Norway measured by surface. As a general rule, building in LNFR requires a dispensation or a new zoning plan, except for the needs of agriculture itself. LNFR-spredt is a hybrid that allows specified scattered development within clear limits set in the land-use element of the municipality plan.
The government's guide to zoning plans gives the full description of what can sit under each purpose. Area purpose must not be confused with land use (actual use today) or area type (the physical production basis in NIBIO's AR5 dataset). The three give three different answers for the same site: area purpose is legally governed, land use is observation based, area type is physical and natural science based. As a general rule, changing the area purpose requires a new planning process, not a dispensation.
In practice, the combined purpose BKB (kombinert bebyggelse og anlegg) is the most used in urban development, because it allows a mix of housing, business and office within the same plan polygon. The relationship between the different sub-purposes is specified in the zoning provisions. The area purpose BBB (pure housing) is stricter and normally rules out commercial premises on the ground floor unless the provisions state this expressly.
In Placepoint you can see the applicable area purpose as part of the map layer for property, and the plan documents and provisions themselves open in the property panel. The colour used for each purpose in the map is listed in the zoning plan legend.
How the dataset appears in the map
The dataset is part of the map layer Property:
From Placepoint's glossary: Area purpose
More information: Regjeringen.no: Reguleringsplanveileder, Lovdata: Plan- og bygningsloven § 11-7, Geonorge: SOSI-standarden
English: Land-use objective (per plan- og bygningsloven).
Frequently asked questions
What is area purpose?
Area purpose is a set of statutory zoning categories that divide a plan area into zones for different types of use, such as housing, business, public purposes and outdoor recreation. They have their legal basis in plan- og bygningsloven.
Which area purposes exist in a municipality plan?
The land-use element of the municipality plan works with main purposes such as buildings and installations, transport installations, green structure, defence, agriculture, nature and outdoor recreation, and use and protection of sea and watercourses. Each main purpose has sub-purposes.
What does it mean that a property has housing as its area purpose?
A housing purpose means the area is set aside for residential development. It allows housing to be built, but not commercial buildings unless it is combined with other purposes or a dispensation is granted.
Can the area purpose be changed?
Yes, the area purpose can be changed through a planning process. Either by revising the municipality plan or by submitting a private zoning plan proposal that changes the purpose for a specific area.
How do I find the area purpose for a specific property?
Area purpose is shown in the land-use element of the municipality plan and in zoning plans. In Placepoint you can easily see the applicable area purpose directly in the map interface, without searching through municipal portals.