Democracy or efficiency: contradictory national guidelines in urban planning in Norway

Planning and building legislation is often divided between two institutional systems and mutually contradictory discourses. While the discourse related to building legislation focuses on efficiency, the planning discourse focuses on democracy. The two discourses are institutionally divided with two national governance systems in Norway. These governance systems meet in local development plans where planning and building are often fully integrated. How do these two discourses affect the development of national legislation and local planning? We find both the planning and building systems increasingly framed by the discourse related to efficiency.