The organization of the site throughout the territory of Greece is being implemented. "What has not been done for 100 years - since the first legislative decrees on town and settlement plans in 1923 - we are called upon to complete by the end of 2025." Notes Deputy Minister of State for National Development Nikos Tagaras.
The changes aim to institutionalise land use in all municipalities of the country, protect the environment, discourage arbitrary building, tighten building requirements in off-plan areas, accelerate the implementation of investments with legal certainty and adapt to climate change.
-I used to say that the "Constantine Doxiadis" Urban Planning Reform Programme is the biggest urban planning reform since the establishment of the Greek state, which is at the same time a "national gamble" that the state is making, technical world and citizens are called upon to win it all together", stresses the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, Nikos Tagaras, in his statements to "Sunday Afternoon" and the journalist Penny Avramidi, referring to the importance of the "Konstantinos Doxiadis" Programme
-"It is extremely important to know where and what is allowed to be built and what is prohibited, how our cities should be built to raise our living standards, what measures we should take to shield urban centres and the natural environment from the rapidly intensifying effects of climate change. With the Constantine Doxiadis Programme we are bringing order to the space and protecting the environment and creating opportunities for development with legal certainty, especially since the planning will be institutionalised by presidential decrees that will be processed by the Council of State", Mr. Tagaras stresses the difficulty, but also the importance of the project:
- "As a reform it is unprecedented by Greek standards, first of all because of its scope, as it concerns 80% of the territory. Of the country's 1,035 Municipal Units, 829, following an invitation we issued to the local government, are acquiring modern urban planning. As a reform it is unprecedented and for another reason: never before has funding of this magnitude been available. The budget of the Urban Reform Programme now exceeds 600 million euros, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Fund, which means that municipalities will not be charged a single euro! But it is also a national gamble because what has not been done for 100 years - noting that the first legislative decrees on town and village plans date back to 1923 - we are called upon to complete by the end of 2025. In terms of scope, funding and timing, the Urban Planning Reforms Programme has no precedent for the country and that is why we all have to complete it with seriousness, responsibility, hard work and perseverance", concluded the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy.
Changes for off-plan, arbitrary building and investments
The "Konstantinos Doxiadis" Urban Reforms Programme of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, with a budget of more than 600 million euros, which constitutes the integrated urban planning for the whole Greek territory, and comes to strengthen the reform fan of the government of Mr. Mitsotakis, making the country environment more investment-friendly, putting an end to the urban planning anarchy of the past decades, noted in the publication of the "Sunday Evening" stating in detail that:
The programme is based on five pillars, with actions aimed at institutionalising land use in all municipalities across the country, protecting the environment, discouraging arbitrary building, tightening building requirements in off-plan areas, accelerating the implementation of investments with legal certainty and adapting to climate change. In addition, sectoral ministries and private investors will know in advance which activities are allowed to be developed in each site area for proper preparation of studies and projects, while the fifth objective is to streamline the assessment of the real value of property owners' real estate.
The Urban Reform Programme "Konstantinos Doxiadis" includes the following 5 Actions:
Local Urban Plans (LEPs).
Special Urban Plans (SPPs).
Independent Studies for Building Factor Reception Zones (BZs).
Separate studies for the delimitation of settlements.
Independent Studies for the Characterization of Municipal Roads.
According to sources of the Ministry of Environment, the reasons that make the need for this reform imperative are the lack of defined land use, building conditions and restrictions, as well as the inability to implement useful urban planning measures and incentives that have led to multiple problems for the environment, the non-rational organization of space and phenomena of anarchic or arbitrary building.
The setting of this "urban disorder" is accompanied by excessive urban sprawl in rural areas, which respectively has led to shortages of basic technical and environmental infrastructure, but also to unfair competition from illegally zoned activities against legal ones, to a lack of legal certainty, as well as to the intensification of the effects of climate change.
For a comprehensive and effective response to this situation, the Ministry of Environment and Energy, having secured a significant budget of more than 600 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, implements with the assistance of the Technical Chamber of Greece the Urban Planning Reforms Programme "Konstantinos Doxiadis", with the aim to remedy the aforementioned issues, to remove unnecessary obstacles that create delays in the implementation of projects, infrastructure and investments with speed and security, and to ensure that they are carried out in a timely and safe manner.
The five pillars of the Constantine Doxiadis Urban Reform Programme
In detail the 5 actions of the urban planning reform promoted by the Ministry of Environment:
Local Urban Plans (LEPs)
TAPs are the most modern urban planning tools and are placed at the first level of urban planning. They are drawn up in at least one or more municipal units (Municipal Units) of a municipality and are harmonised with the guidelines of the Regional and Special Spatial Planning Frameworks and contain the necessary regulations to achieve their objectives. The RSPs are governed by the principles of sustainable spatial development, which includes the spatial, territorial and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, as well as those related to the rational organisation of space. The subject of the programme is the preparation of 227 separate TIS studies, covering the area of one or more municipalities and a total (spatial/geographical) of 730 municipalities throughout the country.
Each TIS assignment includes:
α) Main Study.
b) Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEA).
(c) Special Geological Risk Assessment and Geological Suitability Study.
(d) Study on the delimitation of water bodies.
The TPAs will establish indicatively:
- land use,
- building conditions,
- regulations and restrictions,
- residential areas,
- protection areas,
- areas for the development of productive activities,
- major urban planning interventions,
- special urban incentive areas,
- road infrastructure, transport, construction and environmental networks,
- measures to adapt to climate change,
- measures to support emergency situations and manage the consequences of natural and technological disasters,
- conditions or constraints required for the integrated spatial development and organisation of the study area.
Special Urban Plans (SPP)
Their content is the same as that of the TPAs, but the area to which an EIA applies is not necessarily the same as the administrative boundaries of municipalities. This makes EIAs particularly useful and secure for the spatial organisation and development of areas, which can act as hosts for plans, projects and programmes of supra-regional or strategic importance. The object of the project is the preparation of 18 distinct EIA studies for 99 municipalities.
Separate studies for Building Factor Reception Zones (BZs)
These studies will define specific areas:
-within the urban area (within approved urban land use plans, General Urban Plans - GIS, Plans for Spatial and Housing Organisation of Open Cities - SXOOP, regulatory plans, approved settlement boundaries, BIFA - BIOPA, etc.),
-outside historic city centres, historic site boundaries, traditional settlements, archaeological sites or areas where special building conditions have been imposed, where it is feasible to increase the current building coefficient (BU).
Through ZUS it becomes possible:
-The creation of public spaces in densely populated cities at low cost,
-releasing owners of expropriated land or listed buildings or land subject to restrictions because of its special characteristics (e.g. historic centres),
-enhancing building activity,
-protection of cultural heritage (listed buildings).
Independent Settlement Delimitation Studies
These are 12 special urban planning studies that define the boundaries of settlements dating back to 1923, as well as of legally existing settlements with less than 2,000 inhabitants. These studies are necessary because a large percentage of the country's settlements are either settlements without boundaries or have boundaries that have been unauthorisedly approved and for this reason have been annulled by the Council of State (CoE).
The lack of settlement boundaries is an obstacle to the development of legal building or productive activity. Representative examples of annulment of boundaries by the Council of State are the cases of Rethymnon and Pelion, while appeals are pending in other areas of the country.
Independent Characterization Studies of Municipal Roads
The aim of this programme is to prepare independent characterisation studies of municipal roads for the whole territory. The CoE case law has overturned the legislation establishing conditions for the construction of buildings in off-plan areas (mainly those related to the obligation for a plot of land to have a "face" on an officially designated urban public road). Too many properties in off-plan areas, even of significant size, have been rendered unsuitable for building, despite having access to an unclassified road. This issue concerns:
(a) undeveloped properties in which significant investments were planned,
(b) the modernisation or expansion of existing investments, particularly in the tourism sector.
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