The private in the public: The case of Norwegian private zoning plans

This paper investigates the Norwegian practice of private regulation planning (or private zoning plans), seeking to discern if and how the processes and resulting plans align with the acknowledged benefits of public private partnership (PPP). To assess the topic, we have employed a mixed-methods case-study approach, combining document studies with stakeholder interviews. Two cases were studied in two different municipalities in mid-Norway. We focused on the role of participation and the adaptation between private zoning plans and the holistic ambitions in the local comprehensive plans. Public participation is mandated by law in all municipal planning but the incentives to develop the role of participation might be neglected in private plans. Another observation is the challenge with aligning private initiatives with the overall ambitions phrased in the local comprehensive plan. As a general conclusion we state that these observations and the fact that the Norwegian planning system allows for private actors to take an active role in the planning process, could trigger more studies on the effects of the public-private partnership in the Norwegian planning system. •A case of private–public partnership in a formal planning process.•That Norway is, if not unique, at least rather unusual in inviting market-orientated actors into the formal planning process as actors.•That private zoning plans increase the risk of jigsaw planning, risking a lack of holistic perspectives in the planning outcome.•That strong market interests could affect the formal planning process if they participate as formal planning actors in the creation or co-creation of a zoning plan.•That the system of private zoning plans does not in itself encourage active public participation. The majority of all zoning plans produced in Norway are private initiatives.•This leads us to the more general conclusion that this situation needs to be studied more systematically and to include many more cases.