Asserting authority through mapping: the politics of re-scaling coastal planning in western Norway

Integrated coastal zone planning seeks to balance competing interests, with aquaculture representing an increasing pressure fuelled by a dominant discourse of ‘blue growth’. Recently, more regional-level approaches to planning and mapping in the coastal zone have emerged. Maps, however, are not neutral artefacts, but are infused with particular values and meanings, strengthening some interests rather than others. Drawing on a case study from Hordaland in western Norway, we demonstrate how mapping came to play a pivotal role in regional coastal planning – through analysing relevant documents and interviews, we explored how the conflicts between aquaculture and environmental concerns were explicitly visualised and brought to the fore through mapping. This triggered latent conflicts between the local and regional levels of governance, with several municipalities contesting the map. We suggest that the practice of mapping served to strengthen the authority of the regional planning body in mediating between conflicting interests.