Housing the Refugees: the Greek Experience and Its Political Pitfalls.

Cultural reproduction is one of the main prerogatives to determine behavioural interaction between immigrants and their host environment. And in turn, cultural reproduction mainly develops within a framework of urban conditions, policies and substructures aimed to provide for residence, mobility and transportation, education and information, health and social services, and leisure, cultural and athletic activities. A major challenge nowadays for urban planning and urban governance is to incorporate in its processes the new dynamics created by increasing migration, and secure for immigrants all the above in an acceptable quality –that in essence is fostering their human rights. Greece has been traditionally a source of outgoing migration until early ´90s, when the collapse of the neighbouring communist regimes and the destabilization of the Middle East made it a destination of migration, mainly coming through its northern and eastern borders. According to the Greek legislation, immigrants who arrived and resided in Greece since late ´80s and after the collapse of the socialist states in Europe can be distinguished in two categories: the ones of Greek origin and the ones without it. And one could see a clear difference in policies aiming to accommodate the “repatriating Greeks†in their new environment, than the ones targeted to the other immigrants, the former being more in variety, more elaborated and better financed than the latter. This paper will examine the policies and projects related to providing immediate and intermediate shelter and permanent housing for the refugees, the up to now outcomes of these policies, and their repercussions for human rights of immigrants. Aim of the paper is to relate these policies to the current urban planning and governance framework –and hence to the dominant ideological and political currents and their repercussions for human rights-, to evaluate the outcomes of these policies as it concerns the effects on immigrant well-being, and to attempt conclusions for reassessment of the Greek urban planning system with an effect on immigration, seen in a broader theoretical framework covering EU, the MENA countries, and the wider Balkan area.

Santiago Calatrava and the ‘Power of Faith’: Global Imaginaries in Valencia

The focus of this article is on the importance of collective imaginaries for urban policy mobility, and on the agents and modes of power through which imaginaries are translated, mobilized and become materialized in specific places. Through the case study of the monumental complex of the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, designed by Valencian global architect Santiago Calatrava, I discuss Calatrava's mobilization of ideas of modernity, tradition, democratization and self-esteem already present in the collective imaginary of the people and the politicians of post-Franco's Spain to promote his global architecture. In this process, I argue, global imaginaries were translated into local imaginaries and vice versa as they became embodied in persons and objects, represented in this case by Calatrava's figure as a local/global architect and by the architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences. Particularly, I analyse Calatrava's use of the power of seduction, persuasion and coercion to mobilize such imaginaries in order to build his ubiquitous signature architecture in Valencia

‘‘Glocalising’’ urban landscapes: Athens and the 2004 olympics

This paper deals with transformations of urban landscape in the era of globalization. First, it attempts to describe and understand how particular aspects of urban morphology, such as built heritage and innovative design of space, have become the competitive edge in terms of landscape. Second, it develops the argument that on the basis of their great potential for (a) promoting economic growth and (b) enhancing place identity of cities, both built heritage and innovative design of space appear to be expansively used as major components of contemporary strategic plans of cities for the transformation and improvement of urban landscape. Combining and promoting built heritage and innovative design of space as two central themes in urban landscape transformations generates, for the 21st century city, a new landscape collage dominated by two extremes: (a) that of tradition with rather local spatial references and (b) that of innovation having more universal or global spatial references. Thus, under the forces of globalization, the new emerging urban landscapes may be termed as ‘‘glocalised’’ ones. As a case study, Athens and the landscape transformations for Olympic Games 2004 are analysed

Landscape protection and management in Greece: Problems, perspectives, and policies

An assessment of all actors involved to make suggestions for the establishment of the adequate bodies, services and mechanisms that would help for a new landscape strategy and policy in Greece was presented. The renewal of built-up areas and urbanization, the exploitation of landscapes as a source of economic growth and the conversion of rural and agricultural practices led to a significant landscape change. This transformation does not allow to conceive of Greek landscape as the locus of normal development. Towns and villages, the built-up environment was renewed with the use of reinforced concrete

Towards a sustainable spatial planning and development in Greek islands and highlands

Highlands and islands are the underdeveloped and marginalized areas of Greece in which a series of crucial planning and development problems occur. The paper attempts a description of those areas not only in terms of physical spatial structure but also in terms of socio-economic dependence from the developed 'integrated' - regions of the country (urban and industrial areas). It is essential to describe the structural features of these areas in order to understand their true needs, so that efforts can be made towards the creation of a planning model, which will integrate these areas, using the benefits provided by new technologies. To this purpose the paper investigates an implementation example (pilot project), in the central Mediterranean Sea, which has been developed in the framework of EU trans-national cooperation programs, in the field of spatial and environmental planning matters in order to show that ITC advanced technologies can reinforce participatory planning processes in the new 'network society'. © 2007 WIT Press

Environmental policy and spatial planning in Greece. Institutional aspects

The integration of the environmental dimension into sectoral and regional policies constitutes a dominant concern of the current EU strategy for sustainable development. Thus, physical planning as an instrument of environmental policy and its combination with environmental planning, both at a policy as well as implementation level is a key pursuit in almost all European countries. In Greece, the adoption of a concept about a rational and unified approach of physical and environmental planning has met with many difficulties. The aim of this paper is to contribute towards a critical approach of recent developments, mainly in the field of the institutional framework for spatial and environmental planning in Greece. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers

'Glocalising' urban landscapes: Athens and the 2004 Olympics

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Maritime and coastal spatial planning: The case of Greece and the Mediterranean

Maritime and coastal areas play an important role in the development of human activities and are a substantial influence on the economies of their respective hinterlands. Seas and coasts are among the most complex, vulnerable and sensitive to all natural ecosystems, and their management presents various problems and difficulties especially in our era of climate change in which coastal cities and populations face a range of serious threats (including rising sea levels). The singularity of these areas necessitates an equally singular handling of the issues of their land development and management. At the start of the 21st century the critical issue of the spatial regulation and organization of the seas and coasts is a key priority for Greece and the Mediterranean in the era of climate change. There can be no doubt that the Mediterranean's coastal and marine areas are facing ever greater risks from natural disasters and human pressures alike. Given the experience of EU and UN programs and projects initiated and run by other international organizations which have shown that implementing sustainable spatial development in the coasts and seas is anything but easy, there is clearly a great need for coordinated action and co-operation at the transnational and international level. During the past decade the EU has adopted a strategy for the maritime environment which was incorporated in an Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) (a European vision for the seas and the oceans). In the framework of the above policy the Commission launched in 2008 a road map for the Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) as the basic means for the implementation of the (IMP) and a fundamental tool for the sustainable development of the European seas and coasts. The paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of the planning instruments and policies launched by the EU in relation to maritime and coastal areas and adopted by the competent public agencies and bodies in Greece and Mediterranean. Furthermore, the paper argues for the substantial implementation of the policy documents relating to Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and the Spatial Maritime Planning in the framework of EU strategy for the Integrated Maritime Policy. © 2011 WIT Press

Towards sustainable spa tourism activities in Greece

Thermal (Spa) tourism in Greece has been developed since the beginning of the 19th century thanks to numerous significant thermal springs spread all over the country. After having reached its time of prosperity during '50s, 60s and 70s Spa tourism entered a period of recession and decline. For the last 20 years Greek spa towns and especially their infrastructure (thermal installations) have been suffering from abandonment and degradation. Parallel to these developments, some new categories of visitors / clients of thermal springs have also appeared as a consequence of the broader socio-economic and cultural changes. This paper presents and comments on some results of a research conducted by the authors in the most important spa towns of Greece (Edipsos, Kamena Vourla, Loutra Ypatis) which represent 47% of the spa tourists. The principal objective was to survey the basic characteristics of the users of thermal springs (by questioning them) as well as the opinion of local authorities and managers of companies/enterprises operating in the area. Particularly, the results concerning the profile of spa tourists have a special scientific interest since they prove that commonly held opinions and ideas in relation to spa tourism are often fully mistaken. Besides the research shows the emerging structural planning problems derived from the different needs of 'classic' and 'modern'(contemporary) spausers opposing each other and thus preventing local economies and societies to get full profit from a special/alternative form of tourism, traditionally considered as a comparative advantage of the country. © 2009 WIT Press

Towards sustainable planning in the era of climate change: Spatial policies for built-up areas in Greece

This paper is a critical approach of the institutional framework and the related policies to environmental planning in contemporary Greek towns. Specifically, the paper investigates the achievements as well as the malfunctions that exist at the institutional, administrative and political levels in the sphere of sustainable planning of cities and tries to elucidate the lessons learned from the experience of Greek energy planning policy for the urban environment and development over recent decades. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd