A draft bill upgrading the urban and spatial development of cities and regions was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by the Environment & Energy Ministry.
Minister Kostis Hadzidakis said the draft bill tries to straighten out long-term outstanding issues, and includes regulations that protect the natural environment from uncontrollable business development.
“At present, only 20 pct of Greece has local urban development plans,” Hadzidakis said. “Under our plan, which will be included in the Recovery Fund, all of Greece will have urban development plans by 2028. At the very least, all tourist areas of Greece will have theirs by 2023,” he added. This will allow owners to develop their asssets under laws protecting the environment, which will then raise the value of their land, he stressed.
Deputy Minister Dimitris Economou said that “by the first quarter of 2023, a total of nearly 500 studies relating to land use in all municipal regions will have been assigned through bidding processes, in order to complete the entire country’s spatial development by 2028.”
