Environment Minister Erik Solheim has proposed a new state regulation that forbids shopping centers larger than 3,000 square meters (nearly 100,000 square feet) from being built along highways in suburban areas.
Norway's left-centre coalition government instead wants shoppers to do their shopping in retail districts served by public transport.
"We want to prevent cities and town centers from dying out because all shopping moves out of the downtown area," Solheim told newspaper Dagens Nærinigsliv. "And we want to limit the use of cars. We need to change community structures."
It's unclear how Solheim thinks shoppers can carry bulky items home on the bus, and he allows that local governments can still make decisions, but the state can step in. The prohibition against large suburban shopping center construction will take effect from July 1.
Retailers and real estate developers don't seem especially worried about the looming prohibition. Swedish retailing giant IKEA just won approval for a new 36,000-square-meter store outside Bergen, and IKEA is moving forward with plans for new branches in Vestfold/Grenland.
"We can prove that shoppers now drive all the way to the IKEA at Slependen in Asker (west of Oslo), so can argue that building a new store can reduce car use," said Christen Røhnebæk of IKEA.
