bebygde

Bebygde is a Norwegian adjective meaning built-up or inhabited, used to describe land or areas that are developed with housing, roads, and other infrastructure. In everyday language, it often appears in phrases such as bebymgd område or bebyegd tettsted to indicate that an area is settled or urbanized.

Etymology and related terms: Bebygde derives from the verb bebygge, meaning to build on or develop. Related nouns include bebyggelse, the built environment, and bebyggelsesmønster, the pattern of development. The term is closely linked to discussions of land use, planning, and urban form.

Usage in statistics and planning: In Norway, bebygde areas are relevant for demography and regional planning. Official concepts include bebbygdt område and tettsted (urban settlement). A tettsted is a contiguous, densely built area with a minimum population and with the distance between buildings typically not exceeding about 50 meters. These definitions help classify settlements for census data, resource allocation, and infrastructure planning, and distinguish urbanized space from rural land.

Distinctions and nuances: Be byggning describes the actual act or process of building, and bebyggelse refers to the built environment as a whole—the collection of structures and facilities. Bebygde mainly functions as an adjective describing the state of an area (developed or inhabited), while bebyggelse emphasizes the physical structures themselves.

See also: bebyggelse, tettsted, urbane områder, bebygd areal.