Second homes and urban growth in the Oslo area, Norway

Abstract

Urban growth and second homes are claimed to be closely connected, partly because urban growth can ‘push’ second homes out from former rural areas, and partly because second homes may have a role to play in urban growth. The article discusses such a connection based on a study conducted in the Oslo area of Norway. The analysis shows that second homes and urban growth to some degree are connected in Oslo, but that governmental regulations hinder a potentially stronger connection. This is partly due to a ban on new second homes in some areas, and partly because regulations obstruct second home areas from being transformed into residential areas. Further, there has been a rise in the numbers of Oslo inhabitants owning second homes in new and growing second home areas located at increasingly greater distances from the city. Such areas are thus contributing to a diffusion of urban space in rural areas. Finally, the study highlights how urban growth is only one factor influencing the location of second homes owned by inhabitants of Oslo, while scarcity of available land and changes in demand are additional variables.

Keywords:

• governmental regulations
• multiple dwelling
• urban–rural relationships

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Urban Nordin, Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University, and an anonymous referee for useful comments on an earlier draft on this article. The Research Council of Norway's Programme for Area and Nature-based Industrial Development (AREAL) is thanked for financing the research.

Notes

1. To give the most correct presentation possible, only properties with accurate coordinates are included in Figs. 3, 4 and 5.

2. A comparison can be made by looking at distances of 100 km from the owner's residence. Based on available data, in the case of Oslo (900,000 inhabitants), 42% of the second homes owned by inhabitants are within 100 km of the city, while for Trondheim (160,000 inhabitants) the figure is 77% and for Tromsø (63,000 inhabitants) 82%. For Sweden as a whole, 75% of all second homes are within 98 km of the owners’ primary residence (Jansson & Müller 2003).

3. K. Halfacree ‘New urban/rural relationships: urban sprawl, second homes and counterurbanization’. Paper[0] for the First International Seasonal Homes & Amenity Migration Workshop, held at the Centre for Rural Research, Trondheim, 2008.