Planning for "Athens 2000" : a study of the institutional background within which planning takes place in Greece, focusing on the process of preparation of a comprehensive plan for the Greek capital

This thesis examines the institutional framework within which planning is done in Greece, using the process of preparation of plan Athens 2000, the latest comprehensive plan for the Greek Capital, as a case study. The information in this report is based on a literature review and on material collected during interviews with persons who had participated in the process of planning for Athens 2000 in various capacities.

Athens dominates Greek socioeconomic life because of size and because of political and economic power. Therefore the serious problems faced by the city today threaten the country's future also.

Planning, as other aspects of government in Greece, is highly centralized. Local governments are not adequately developed or organized to carry out planning functions. On the other hand planning is not yet recognized as a necessity of life in Greece. Although urban development controls date back to 1923, true planning legislation started appearing in Greece only during the seventies, and reached a comprehensive form with law 947/1979, concerning Urban Development Areas.

The Athens 2000 plan is important primarily because it had the potential to be implemented. The process of its preparation evolved in four stages. Stage one started in August 1978 and ended in April 1979 with a draft plan. Proposition 1979, as its outcome. The second stage involving a public discussion of Proposition 1979, ended in September 1979 with a widely accepted agreement concerning planning principles, goals and objectives for the development of Athens. During the third stage, which lasted from September 1979 to October 1980, the objective was to revise the draft plan through a process involving planners representing a wide spectrum of philosophies, and the local governments of the metropolitan area of Athens. Finally in the fourth stage this process was practically interrupted by the national administration, and a final Athens 2000 plan, bearing a striking resemblance to Proposition 1979, was officially adopted in May 1981.

Although the process of planning for Athens 2000 produced an unusual co-operation between private planners of diverse philosophies on the one hand, and central government agencies on the other, in the end the administration failed to adjust its thinking and procedures to reflect the findings of this co-operation. Instead, the central government imposed its own authoritative "solution" which was very unlikely ever to be implemented.

Despite its disappointing end, the process of preparation of plan Athens 2000, especially during its third stage, constitutes a valuable experience for Greek planners. In a country as pluralistic as Greece an incremental approach to planning, an approach involving a representative array of philosophies, seems the only one that could result in an implementable plan. The process of preparation of the Athens 2000 plan showed that such an approach can be feasible. This allows some hope for the future.