Land Readjustment as a tool for Urban Development in Greece: the implementation gap between Laws, Policies and Practice
Evangelia Balla
Land Readjustment (LR), as a tool for urban development, was implemented initially in Greece, at the beginning of the 20th century, indicating thus a rapid response of the planning community to the quest for a more efficient land acquisition tool, quite at the same period as in other European countries. A few years later, specific legal provisions for the use of LR to the implementation of town plans (Ktimatikes Omades) were incorporated in the Law Decree of July 17, 1923. However, the implementation of LR was very limited compared to other traditional tools, such as expropriation, and was restricted to a few cases, mainly when there was an urgent need for the implementation of town plans after extensive disasters i.e. bombings, fires and earthquakes. A new form of Land Readjustment, apparently influenced from the relevant French institution of ?Remembrement Urbaine? and the German ?Baulandumlegung?, was legislated in the late ?70s, in the context of the Planning Reform that took place following the Greek Constitution in 1975 (Article 24). However, its application has been once again limited to a few cases. In view of the above, a fundamental research question apparently arises: which are the predominant factors that determined the limited implementation of Land Readjustment in Greece? How LR is related to other innovative ideas, tools and practices which have been transposed in the domestic planning system fundamentally influenced by foreign experience? The paper aspires to present the Greek experience in Land Readjustment, providing an analytical overview of its basic characteristics (legal framework, related policies and applications). It seeks further to shed light into the implementation gap between laws, policies and practice of LR, to discuss how the application of LR is related to the basic features of the land administration and spatial planning system in Greece and to investigate its prospects, with regard to the current challenges of Spatial and Land policies in the country.
Event: Symposium on Land Consolidation and Readjustment for Sustainable Development
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