VPOR
VPOR (veiledende plan for offentlig rom, a guiding plan for public space) is Oslo kommune's plan for streets, squares, parks and other public spaces in an urban development area. The plan is not legally binding, but it sets the framework that later detailed zoning plans in the area must work within.
A VPOR is prepared by Plan- og bygningsetaten (the planning and building agency) and adopted by the city council, often together with a planning programme under section 4-1 of the Planning and Building Act (then referred to as "PP med VPOR"). It sits between the municipality plan and the detailed zoning plan in the planning hierarchy: the municipality plan identifies the development area, the VPOR draws the network of public spaces, and the detailed zoning plans make the solutions legally binding, field by field.
The content is concrete: street cross-sections with widths, squares and parks with minimum sizes, pedestrian routes, stream daylighting and bridges, recommended field utilisation as a percentage of UFA, building heights, minimum outdoor amenity space standards and requirements for a joint detailed zoning plan for fields that must be planned together. Several VPORs also set out two development standards for public spaces, normal and high, which form the basis for negotiations on development agreements under section 17-3 of the Planning and Building Act.
For a developer, the main consequence is the area calculation. Recommended utilisation in a VPOR is calculated from the net plot, that is, the plot area left once the area for streets, squares and parks has been deducted. A property can therefore end up with a lower real utilisation rate than the gross figure suggests, and the measures are secured through sequencing provisions in the zoning provisions. In practice, Plan- og bygningsetaten treats the VPOR as governing: a planning initiative that departs from it must be justified. Bymiljøetaten (the agency for urban environment) often follows up with a guiding technical plan that assesses whether the solutions can be carried out technically.
Oslo has adopted VPORs for Ensjø, Løren/Økern, Hasle/Valle Hovin, Haraldrud, Bryn, Frysja, Mortensrud, Stovner/Rommen and Lysakerbyen, among others, and more are in progress. In Placepoint, the VPOR areas for Oslo are part of the Mapped municipal plans dataset, with a link to the plan document at Plan- og bygningsetaten, so you can see whether a property lies within a VPOR before you assess its development potential.
How the dataset appears on the map
The dataset is part of the map layer Zoning as Mapped municipal plans:
From Placepoint's glossary: VPOR
More information: Oslo kommune: Slik bygger vi Oslo, Plan- og bygningsetaten: VPOR Ensjø, Lovdata: the Planning and Building Act
English: Guiding plan for public spaces (VPOR, Oslo-specific planning instrument).
Frequently asked questions
Is a VPOR legally binding?
No. The VPOR is advisory and does not in itself grant building rights or impose building bans. It still governs in practice: Plan- og bygningsetaten uses it as the basis for detailed zoning plans, and the measures are secured through sequencing provisions and development agreements. A planning proposal that departs from the VPOR must justify the deviation.
What is the difference between a VPOR and a planning programme?
A planning programme is a statutory start-up document under section 4-1 of the Planning and Building Act that clarifies what a planning process is to assess. The VPOR is the plan for the public spaces themselves. In Oslo they are often adopted together as "planprogram med VPOR", so that one document both frames the process and draws the urban spaces.
What does a VPOR mean for the utilisation of my plot?
Recommended utilisation as a percentage of UFA is calculated from the net plot, after the area for streets, squares and parks has been deducted. If parts of the property lie in a future pedestrian route or park corridor, the buildable plot becomes smaller than today's property boundaries suggest. Check both the field utilisation and the map of measures in the VPOR before you calculate the potential.