Planning reform and change in times of economic crisis: lessons from the expansion of private-led planning in Greece

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the expansion of private-led planning in Greece in the context of the changes that occurred in Greek planning policy and practice during the economic crisis of the 2010s and beyond. It examines the policy agendas and planning instruments adopted under the bailout programs, as well as the types of private-led initiatives that emerged in planning practice. It further analyzes the driving forces and the directions of change and assesses their significance. By linking external pressure to endogenous drivers of change, the article advances a bottom-up research agenda for examining planning reform and change under conditions of crisis.

KEYWORDS:

• Planning reform
• policy change
• economic crisis
• private-led planning
• Greece

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on the earlier version of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The Eurozone crisis was a multi-year debt crisis that took place in some of the European Monetary Union (EMU) countries from 2009 until the mid or the late 2010s. The eurozone countries that faced critical solvency or liquidity problems, namely Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus, received bailout loans from other Eurozone countries, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a wide range of macroeconomic stabilization measures and structural reforms. On the causes of the crisis and on how responses to the crisis were shaped among and within countries, see Frieden and Walter (2017).

2. Art. 7 of Law Decree of 17.7.1923 on ‘Planning and Building of Cities, Towns, and Settlements’.

3. Law decrees of 12/19.5.1923, 15/17.11.1923 and 10/20.11.1923 on affordable housing; L. 4202/1929 for the ratification of Decree 11.5.1929 regarding housing cooperatives of public servants and military personnel.

4. The ‘Metapolitefsi’ (polity change) is the period in modern Greek history starting with the fall of the dictatorship and the restoration of democracy.

5. L. 1947/1991 (Art. 29) on Private Urbanization; L. 2508/1999 (Art. 24) on Specially Regulated Areas for Development (PERPOs).

6. Art. 41 ff. of L. 3982/2011.

7. Art. 29 of L. 2545/1997.

8. Council of State Plenary 3396–3397/2010, 3920/2010.

9. Council of State Opinion 107/2023.

10. L. 3986/2011 (Articles 10–17), as amended.

11. The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund S.A. (HRADF) was established in 2011 with the mandate to leverage the State’s private property assigned to it by the Hellenic Republic: https://hradf.com/en/home/ (accessed: 26/8/2023).

12. See in this respect Art. 11 B and Art. 12 par. 7 of L. 3986/2011, as amended.

13. These include the EPSs of the International Exhibition and of the Former Military Camp ‘Pavlos Melas’ both in Thessaloniki, the EPS of Agios Dionysios in the Municipality of Piraeus and the EPS in the Mati fire-damaged area of the Municipal Districts of Nea Makri and Rafina in Attica.

14. https://theellinikon.com.gr/en/home/ (accessed: 27 September 2023).

15. L. 4062/2012; L. 4422/2016; L. 4549/2018.

16. JMD 74,502 E × 2019EMP (GG Β 2792/04.07.2019); JMD YPEN/AGE/121018/242/12.12.2021, GG Β 5971/17.12.2021.

17. L. 3785/2009 (GG A 138/7.8.2009).

18. Ministerial Decision ΥPPOA/606689/14.12.2021 (GG Β 6034/20.12.2021).

19. Donation Agreement 15.11.2021; JMD 624,913/23.12.2021 (GG B 165/24.1.2022).

20. Donation Agreement 14.12.2021; MD 558,074/17.11.2021 (GG B 5352/18.11.2021).

21. L. 5022/2023, GG A 33/17.2.2023.