Two thirds of Norway’s coast is accessible to the public

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A third of the Norwegian coastal zone is affected by human activity, but there are large regional differences. The coastal zone along the Oslo Fjord is least accessible.

The part of the coastal zone that is considered as not accessible to the public includes mainly areas affected by buildings, but also agricultural land, roads and train lines. In order to protect the coastal zone and to reduce pressure on land resources due to construction, the government issued new planning guidelines in 2011.

Figure 1

Figure 1. Proportion of the coastal zone influenced by buildings, railways, roads or cultivated land, status 1.1.2016 and changes from 2000 to 2016. County

The coastal zone along the Oslo Fjord, which includes the counties Akershus, Oslo and Buskerud, is least accessible in Norway. Only 30 per cent is open to the public, and about 60 per cent is affected by buildings. Here we also see the largest decrease in accessible coastal zone in recent years.

The coastal zone in Southern Norway is less affected by human activity than the Oslo Fjord area, but pressure on land resources due to construction is still high. Nearly half of the coastal zone is considered accessible, but about a third is affected by buildings.

By comparison, the west coast and the North of Norway has less pressure on land resources due to construction activity. Along the west coast, about 75 per cent of the coastal zone is accessible. However, nearly a third of this is considered too steep for outdoor activity.

New planning guidelines

New planning guidelines were established in 2011 to allow for a differentiated coastal management on a regional level. This means a stronger geographical differentiation where the coastal zone is protected to a higher degree in areas with more pressure on land resources due to construction activity. The coastal zone is split into three main areas:

A. Municipalities along the coast of Oslo Fjord

B. Other areas with high pressure on land resources

C. Areas with low pressure on land resources

Figure 2. Land use in coastal area divided by human activities in municipalities along the fjord of Oslo and other municipalities with high and low pressure on land areas. 1. January 2016

Potentially accessible coastal area > 25 degrees Potentially accessible coastal area < 25 degrees Influence area around buildings < 50m Cultivated land Railway surface Road surface
Average for municipalities with low pressure on land areas 22.2 51.0 12.6 12.1 0.0 2.1
Average for municipalities with high pressure on land areas 11.6 43.1 29.7 12.8 0.1 2.7
Average for municipalities along the Oslofjord 5.0 34.3 51.5 5.7 0.2 3.3

Less construction activity

Construction activity in the coastal zone has generally declined since 2009. An exception is Oslo county, where the part of the coastal zone that is affected by human activity has increased at a faster pace in recent years.

The number of new buildings in Norway’s coastal zone has declined by about a third since 2005. The main reason for this is that there are fewer garages and annexes being built. Other building types such as dwellings and holiday houses have remained at a more or less stable level.

Figure 3. Number of building start permits granted in the coastal zone per year

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
All building types 5650 6010 5569 4759 5154 4796 4657 4673 4578 4169 3839
Dwelling 1175 1285 1046 849 978 846 895 949 992 904 1017
Mountain farm hut, fishermens shack, cabin, turf hut etc. 51 24 38 36 28 27 31 12 31 36 23
Holiday house 1147 1270 1172 853 846 689 759 656 639 544 562
Garage, outhouse, annex linked to dwelling 2713 2808 2739 2433 2670 2659 2395 2499 2432 2146 1811
Industrial building and warehouse except fishery and agricultural building 203 205 214 266 254 395 102 283 210 264 193
Fishery and agricultural building 92 102 89 105 118 119 113 100 112 106 81
Other building 269 316 271 217 260 221 202 174 162 169 152

It is generally prohibited to build in the coastal zone in Norway, but exemptions can be sought. The number of exemptions that Norwegian municipalities receive has been declining in recent years. The share of granted exemptions has remained stable between 80 and 85 per cent since 2012.

Figure 4

Figure 4. Applications for new buildings along the shore zone outside towns. Number approved and rejected¹ ²

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