Case study report - Stavanger

Stavanger is the administrative centre of Rogaland County and the fourth most populous municipality in Norway, with an estimated 151,602 inhabitants in January 2026, which represents a growth of about 7,000 people since January 2020). Drivers of this growth include net in-migration, particularly of labour migrants (especially connected to the oil and gas industry – the backbone of Stavanger’s economic growth), students, and refugees. As of 2025, 21,4% of the population in Stavanger has an immigrant background, representing an increase of 7,5 percentage points since 2010. Together with neighbouring Sandnes, Sola, and Randaberg, it forms the Stavanger–Sandnes conurbation, the third largest urban region in Norway, with 239,055 residents in 2024.  This regional setting is important because major housing developments are concentrated along the corridor connecting Stavanger and Sandnes (Bybånd-urban belt), where urban growth is tightly linked to densification and transport infrastructure projects.