Developments after exiting from the crisis: comparisons

A key purpose of this chapter is to present the actual planning systems - after the economic crisis - of all the countries which are studied in the book - Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, - by using material from recent international sources and academic work. A large number of diagrams and tables is used to illustrate the structure of planning systems. The constant stream of new laws and amendments, the ever-present out-of-plan land development, the new generation of urban plans, the time-consuming planning process, the environmental challenge, the threat of risks and disasters, and the discrepancies between spatial planning and sectoral policies figures prominently in the text. Separate sections are reserved for the recent code of Greek urban and regional planning legislation and the influence of EU policies. Although some central sections of the chapter are devoted to Greece, they are accompanied by an extensive presentation of the systems of other countries and by the comments of a group of international experts. Some extracts are placed in recess to draw attention. The picture that emerges provides a panorama of the situation after the crisis and of the outcome of innovations triggered by it. Short summaries are placed at the end of all sections to assist the reader.