Acceso usuarios
Louis Wassenhoven
The theoretical research concept underlying this paper is that planning is not solely about producing spatial plans, but also about “designing institutions”, hence that of spatial planning, and the statutory planning framework. Planning laws define the content of a spatial planning system, which apart from imposing rules regarding the use of land, incorporates values and principles. In the context of the 2008 economic crisis, several European countries, Greece in particular, had to redefine their planning system as a precondition of the bailout agreements proposed by international creditors. This experience in Greece serves as a case study. An obvious question was whether or not this was a process of Europeanization of the Greek planning system or one of urgent adaptation to exceptional circumstances. A further objective of the paper is to view this process in the context of institutionalization.
The effects of the crisis reached Greece in 2010 and efforts began in 2011 towards an urban and regional planning reform, and intensified when a European Commission Task Force was established to provide assistance. A special committee was formed in 2013, of which the author was a member, to draft a new planning law, in accordance with the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) dictated by the “Troika” of the European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the International Monetary Fund
