Towards a new spatial perspective – Norwegian politics at the crossroads

The purpose of the article is to investigate how the hegemony of traditional regional policy in Norway has been weakened in favour of policies of a new type, derived from the combined effect of climate concerns and a search for increased structural efficiency. This phenomenon is identified as an ‘eco-spatial’ turn that marks a new policy regime with changing agendas. The policy transition is analysed by drawing on existing scientific literature in the fields concerned, central policy documents, and relevant news articles. The results of the analysis substantiate that a decisive turn has taken place, with the period of transition between the two policy types identified as 1992–2015. This shift in policy orientation has important institutional and political consequences, including the move from a perspective of demographic and economic expansion in space to one of contraction and a subsequent creation of spatial scarcity. To conclude, the author questions whether the new policy position is viable, given the deep-rooted nature of regional cleavages within Norwegian society. However, the formal institutional ability to deal with the situation at the national level is in place, since national planning and regional policies have finally been gathered within the confines of one ministry.