balipropertyguideBali land zoning: what the spatial plan lets you build, zone by zone
“Green zone” is not in any by-law. Food-crop zone, protected farmland and a 100-meter coastal setback are — with a building-coverage cap for each zone.
Green zone, yellow zone, LP2B, sempadan: eleven labels and what the by-law calls each
Bali zoning is discussed in colours. The regency spatial plans never use a colour: they name zones, list what each zone permits outright, permits on conditions, and prohibits, and cap how much of a plot a building may cover. The table maps the market labels onto the by-law. The numbers are Badung’s — the regency Canggu, Seminyak, Pererenan and Uluwatu are in — because that is the plan we could read in full.
| What the listing or agent says | What the spatial plan calls it | What the by-law says |
|---|---|---|
| “Green zone”, “rice field land”, “sawah” | Kawasan Tanaman Pangan — food-crop zone | Accommodation only conditionally, in limited form, integrated with its surroundings; building coverage 10% at most.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(2)(e) |
| “Protected rice field”, “LP2B” | Kawasan Pertanian Pangan Berkelanjutan — protected food farmland | Accommodation is not among the permitted or conditional uses.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 101(4) |
| “Garden land”, “tegalan” | Kawasan Hortikultura — horticulture zone | Accommodation conditional and limited; coverage 30% at most.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(3)(d) |
| “Tourism zone”, “pink zone” (market usage) | Kawasan Pariwisata — tourism zone | Accommodation permitted outright; coverage 50% at most.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 96(d) |
| “Residential zone”, “yellow zone” (market usage) | Kawasan Permukiman Perkotaan — urban settlement | Coverage 75% at most.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 97(2) |
| “Village residential” | Kawasan Permukiman Perdesaan — rural settlement | Coverage 70% at most.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 97(3) |
| “Beachfront”, “absolute beachfront” | Sempadan pantai — coastal setback | A protected strip at least 100 meters from the highest tide line.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 101(15)(a) |
| “Beach club allowed?” | Uses inside the coastal setback | Accommodation support facilities of limited intensity, conditionally.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 86(e)(2)(a) |
| “Ubud riverside / Gianyar coast” | Gianyar’s coastal setback | Also at least 100 meters from the highest tide line.Gianyar Perda 2/2023, elucidation to art. 71(9) |
| “The agent says it can be rezoned” | The detailed plan (RDTR) | Intensity may be higher or lower, on a technical study, a spatial-planning forum recommendation or the detailed plan (RDTR).Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 96(e) |
| “Zoning map”, “RTRW” | Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah — the regency spatial plan | A regional by-law. Badung’s runs 2025–2045; Gianyar’s 2023–2043.Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(2)(b) |
The colour column is how buyers and agents talk, not how the law is written. We have not read the map legend specification, so we tie no colour to a zone as a rule; check the zone name on the map, not the colour.
How much you can build: coverage, zone by zone
Each zone in Badung’s plan ends with an intensity rule: KDB, the maximum share of the plot a building may cover; KLB, the floor-area ratio; and KDH, the minimum share kept green. KDB is the one that decides what a plot is worth to someone who wants to build on it.
| Badung zone | Maximum building coverage (KDB) | Footprint on a 1,000 m² plot (our arithmetic) | Article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food-crop zone | 10% | 100 m² | Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(2)(e) |
| Horticulture zone | 30% | 300 m² | Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(3)(d) |
| Tourism zone | 50% | 500 m² | Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 96(d) |
| Rural settlement | 70% | 700 m² | Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 97(3) |
| Urban settlement | 75% | 750 m² | Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 97(2) |
The same 1,000 m² plot supports a 100 m² footprint in the food-crop zone and a 750 m² one in urban settlement. That is a factor of 7, and a listing priced per are without a zone name has priced neither. The food-crop zone also requires at least 75% of the plot to stay green, and caps the floor-area ratio at 0.1, so a second story does not rescue it.
The rice-field question, answered from the article
The most common zoning question from foreign buyers is whether a villa can go on sawah. Badung answers it in two places.
The food-crop zone: conditional, limited, and small
Article 92(2) lists what the food-crop zone permits outright: activity supporting food crops, horticulture, water infrastructure and farm roads. Accommodation is not there. It appears in the conditional list — only conditionally, in limited form, integrated with its surroundings (Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(2)(b)) — alongside limited or existing settlement and limited agro- and eco-tourism. Intensive housing is prohibited. Then the coverage cap of 10% applies (Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 92(2)(e)).
Protected farmland: not on either list
Some food-crop land carries a second designation as protected sustainable food farmland — Kawasan Pertanian Pangan Berkelanjutan, the LP2B overlay. For that land, article 101(4) permits farming support, allows agro- and eco-tourism and existing religious buildings on conditions, and allows conversion only for defense, public interest, national strategic projects or disaster. Accommodation is not among the permitted or conditional uses (Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 101(4)).
So “green zone” covers two very different answers: a narrow conditional yes on ordinary food-crop land, and — on our reading of article 101(4) — no on protected farmland. Which one a parcel is on is the first question, and it is answered by the map and the detailed plan, not the seller.
Beachfront: the 100-meter line
Badung’s plan defines the coastal setback as the land along the shore at least 100 meters from the highest tide line, set on technical study of topography, biophysics, coastal oceanography and economic and cultural need (Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 101(15)(a)). The 100 meters is a minimum, not a fixed line. Gianyar’s plan uses the same minimum (Gianyar Perda 2/2023, elucidation to art. 71(9)).
Inside the setback, Badung permits beach recreation, fishing activity, beach parks and Hindu religious use. Commercial development is conditional at most: accommodation support facilities of limited intensity, conditionally (Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 86(e)(2)(a)), with at least half the area kept green. The same article protects temple and ceremonial sites on the shore. A villa “on the sand” is therefore either outside the setback, older than it, or a question for the Land Office before it is a question for your notary.
Why the regency plan is not the last word
The spatial plan sets zones for a whole regency. It is refined by the detailed spatial plan (Rencana Detail Tata Ruang, RDTR), and Badung’s plan says so itself: the tourism zone’s intensity limits may be higher or lower, on a technical study, a spatial-planning forum recommendation or the detailed plan (RDTR) (Badung Perda 4/2025 art. 96(e)). We have not read the RDTRs. That is why this page gives the regency rule and does not tell you what a named parcel allows. For a particular use on a particular parcel the operative document is the KKPR — conformity between a planned use of space and the spatial plan (PP 21/2021 art. 1(17)). How it is confirmed.
Above the regency plan sits the provincial one, and some of its rules bind every zone: buildings are limited to 15 meters above the ground (Bali Perda 2/2023 art. 100(2)), and temple core zones to one story. The island-wide rules.
Zoning and the right you hold are also separate tests. A foreigner’s hak pakai home carries a residential designation limit of its own — PP 18/2021 art. 72(d) — so a plot zoned for tourism and a right limited to a residence can pull in different directions if the plan is to let the villa. Renting it out, structure by structure.
Before you pay for land: five zoning checks
1. The zone name, from the plan
Not the colour on a screenshot. Ask which zone in the regency plan the parcel is in.
2. Whether the LP2B overlay applies
It turns a conditional yes into a no.
3. The coverage cap, turned into square meters
KDB times the plot area is the largest footprint you can build. Compare it with what you are being sold.
4. The distance to the high-tide line, if it is coastal
At least 100 meters in Badung and Gianyar, subject to study.
5. Whether the existing building has its papers
What a villa needs to be built and used: PBG and SLF.
A building that exists is not the same as a building that was permitted. What each document can and cannot prove.
We do not sell land and cannot check a parcel's zoning for you. We are paid a fixed fee per enquiry whether you buy or not, which is why this page quotes the by-law rather than a map.
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Questions on this page
Can you build a villa on green zone land in Bali?
In Badung, the food-crop zone (Kawasan Tanaman Pangan) lists accommodation only as a conditional use, in limited form and integrated with its surroundings, prohibits intensive housing, and caps building coverage at 10% with at least 75% kept green (Perda 4/2025 art. 92(2)). Where the land is also protected sustainable food farmland (LP2B), accommodation appears in neither the permitted nor the conditional list (art. 101(4)). 'Green zone' is market shorthand; the by-law uses zone names.
What is the beach setback in Bali?
Badung's spatial plan sets the coastal setback at at least 100 meters landward from the highest tide line, adjusted by technical study (Perda 4/2025 art. 101(15)(a)). Gianyar's plan uses the same 100-meter minimum in its elucidation to article 71(9). Inside the setback, accommodation support facilities of limited intensity are only a conditional use in Badung (art. 86(e)(2)(a)).
What does KDB mean in Bali zoning?
KDB (koefisien dasar bangunan) is the maximum share of the plot a building may cover. Badung's plan sets it zone by zone: 10% in the food-crop zone, 30% in horticulture, 50% in the tourism zone, 70% in rural settlement and 75% in urban settlement. On a 1,000 m² plot that is the difference between a 100 m² and a 750 m² footprint.
Can zoning in Bali be changed?
Badung's own plan says the intensity limits for the tourism zone may be higher or lower on a technical study, a spatial-planning forum recommendation, or the detailed spatial plan (RDTR) (art. 96(e)). That is a formal process tied to planning instruments, not something a seller or agent can promise.
What is the RTRW in Bali?
The Rencana Tata Ruang Wilayah is each regency's spatial plan, enacted as a regional by-law. Badung's is Perda 4/2025 for 2025–2045; Gianyar's is Perda 2/2023 for 2023–2043. It sets zones and what each zone permits; the detailed plan (RDTR) refines it parcel by parcel.
Does zoning affect a foreigner differently?
No. Zoning attaches to the land, not the buyer. What differs for a foreigner is the right — hak pakai for a home carries a residential designation limit under PP 18/2021 article 72(d) — so the zone and the right have to agree with each other and with your plan for the property.
Sources cited on this page
- Badung Perda 4/2025 — RTRW 2025–2045, arts. 86, 92, 96, 97, 101
- Gianyar Perda 2/2023 — RTRW 2023–2043, elucidation to art. 71
- PP 18/2021 art. 72 — limits on a foreigner’s home
Every rule above was read in the Indonesian original on 20 September 2026, not from an English summary. How we check this.