ISoCaRP 44 th International Planning Congress. URBAN GROWTH WITHOUT SPRAWL: A WAY TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION Dalian, China, September 2008

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1 ISoCaRP 44 th International Planning Congress URBAN GROWTH WITHOUT SPRAWL: A WAY TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION Dalian, China, September 2008 Urban competitiveness and sprawl as conflicting planning priorities: the Olympic legacy of Athens Thanos Pagonis Department of Geography - School of Social Sciences UNIVERSITY OF THE AEGEAN, GREECE Co-authors: Chorianopoulos I, Drymoniti S, Koukoulas S.

2 Aim of study and focus of research Investigating the relationship between competitiveness and sprawl as potentially conflicting priorities of spatial planning and policy for large metropolitan areas. To what extent may the promotion of competitiveness related policies induce more sprawl? Placing the research question in the context of the Mediterranean city: case study of Athens. How did the recent wave of public infrastructure investments related with the Olympics affect patterns of land development in the urban periphery?

3 Presentation Index Exploring the linkages between the debates on competitiveness and sprawl - filling the gaps between the economic and land use approach to the framing of problems and formulation of urban policy Placing sprawl and competitiveness in the context of the Mediterranean City: the case of Athens - Sprawl as a structural element of Athenian urban development - Competitiveness as a new stake for metropolitan planning Empirical research: Evolution of Messoghia plain into a hybrid landscape - Mapping land cover change in the period Does new growth constitute sprawl? Conclusions - How did the Olympics affect sprawling patterns in Athens? - What lessons can be drawn from the Athens case?

4 Linking the debates on competitiveness and sprawl Urban competitiveness dominated the agendas of planners and policy makers over last 2 decades (planning goals reorientation) It implies a shift from the political articulation of the nationally determined priorities of domestic full employment and collective consumption (Goodwin and Painter 1996), to the construction of territorial specificities aiming at enhancing the growth potential of the locality (Preteceille, 1997). Regulatory responses include: 1. supply-side actions, focusing on altering local administrative and economic characteristics 2. demand-oriented actions, striving to respond to the attributes which firms are seeking from a particular location in order to operate 3. image development and image enhancement strategies, aiming to differentiate a place from other investment location choices Urban competitiveness strategies have been adequately analyzed in terms of their social, political and economic implications at both the inter- and intra-city levels Building on this work, this paper explores their impact on patterns of land-use change. It is argued that they generate a spatial restructuring dynamic with distinct implications on the urban form and functions. Sprawl is a classic theme of urban planning theory with most research conducted in the US. Recent EU funded research projects (SCATTER, URBS PANDENS) Umbrella term with erratic significance: difficult to define and surrounded by controversy regarding its features, causes and effects, Literature on sprawl is either focused solely on mapping land use change, or rests heavily on its negative effects, paying less attention to the causes of growth in suburban and ex-urban areas Need for more sophisticated analysis through in depth case study research Land use planning can offer solutions to sustainable urban development through smart growth strategies, consisting of land-use controls sensitive to the issues of housing diversity, traffic congestion and environmental degradation However, its capacity to influence urban expansion presupposes that policy objectives reflect primarily growth-control considerations. The increased weight of competitiveness-related priorities unsettles this prioritization. In the case of cities with underdeveloped land-use planning structures, the re-prioritization of planning goals towards the development target, is risking unordered expansion.

5 The particular context of the Mediterranean city : Athens Ongoing debate exploring the distinct development path of Southern European cities, compared to the industrialized European North Relatively less gravity of industrial employment as the driving force of urbanization, (importance of push rather than pull factors, rural exodus) Spontaneous (piecemeal) urban development driven by self promoted housing strategies became the main vehicle of socioeconomic integration of internal rural migrants Urban growth was determined by a dual housing market operating parallel in the urban core and the urban fringe Sprawl thus can be seen as a structural characteristic in the way the city developed and the role of planning was reduced to a posteriori legitimization of already formed urban realities

6 Link between informal and formal urban development processes

7 Urban fabric: the city as outcome of aggregate individual housing strategies (density, mixed use, high degree of home ownership, lack of open spaces)

8 Phases of urban sprawl in Athens - arrival of large refugee numbers from Minor Asia (1922), storming areas surrounding the existing urban nuclei, - post war growth (1950s-1970s), driven by internal rural migrants settling in the western part of the conurbation. Parallel processes of densification and expansion s-1990 s: suburbanization driven by intra-urban population escaping a polluted and increasingly congested city (middle class suburbs in north east) s: Continued middle class exodus combined with filtering of immigrants in centre, expansion of borders of metropolitan area enhanced by new infrastructure developments, emergence of a new commodified housing market

9 Athens and urban competitiveness The enhancement of the importance of Athens as a regional European metropolis emerged as a new stake for metropolitan planning in relation to hosting the 2004 Olympics Allocation of significant funds Projects classified in 2 categories: 1. Reducing peripheriality (transport and telecom infrastructure) 2. Improving attractiveness of the urban area and capacity to act as a year round venue for tourism (renewal and Olympic venues) Significant redirection of official spatial planning policy for Athens from environmental protection to promotion of economic development (reflected in updating of Athens Regulatory Master Plan)

10 Competitiveness related planning projects aiming at image and functional improvements

11 The study area: The Messoghia plain Part of AMA regulated by the Athens Regulatory Master Plan Large territorial asset of strategic importance for the metropolitan area It escaped urbanization because of physical barriers (Hymettus mountain) and retained its agricultural character until early 1980 s

12 Evolution of Messoghia into a hybrid landscape Area lacks a major pole of economic development (scattered small towns and seaside settlements) Accessibility patterns entirely transformed after construction of new international airport and assorted infrastructure Construction of two Olympic venues at the expense of agricultural land Airport acts as pole or tertiary activities which attract permanent residents, tendency of transformation of secondary homes into primary ones Building construction activity attracts immigrant labour Presently the most rapidly growing area in Attica region

13 Mapping land cover change in Messoghia Comparison of two Landsat TM 5 satellite images (June 1987 and May 2003) Merging of 7 land cover classes (Corine) into 2 large categories of urban and non urban land uses Observed landscape change from a rural towards an increasingly suburban/urban character Type of land use change Non urban uses to urban uses Unchanged urban uses Unchanged non-urban uses Total (km 2 ) (%)

14 3 main patterns of land use change: 1. Linear development along major road axes

15 2. Scattered urban expansion of seashore second home towns

16 3. Emergence of new nuclei or urban uses

17 Does new growth in Messoghia constitute sprawl? The construction of major infrastructure projects, which attract tertiary activities and new housing, contradict stated goals of the Athens Master Plan for the area These goals were reviewed in the name of enhancing the competitiveness of the metropolitan area, however this was not followed by corresponding smart growth policies for sustainable urban development As a result growth materialized in undesired urban forms and led to the loss of agricultural land. This unplanned urban expansion constitutes sprawl. The belated planning response of a UDC zone (2003) has to practically adapt to new developments with limited potential to influence them

18 How did the aspect of competitiveness affect the urban development model of the Mediterranean city? The role of land use planning remains week with limited ability to affect urban development patterns. Its shortcomings (latent response, difficulty of implementation, administrative fragmentation) are even more apparent now in the context of the larger scale of interactions and the new dynamics of housing market. Competitiveness related policies were formulated from a regional development perspective, funded through the Structural Funds and implemented by ad hoc agencies, bypassing spatial planning, which was oriented elsewhere. They were never translated into coherent spatial policy. Their main focus was to accommodate the pressing needs of the Olympic games rather than ensure long term sustainable spatial development. As a result their spatial restructuring dynamic was not exploited and they ended up pushing more sprawl This gap between the emerging articulation of a metropolitan structure and local sustainable urban growth remains to be bridged in Athens

19 Reflecting on the relationship between competitiveness and sprawl Need for more in depth case study research linking economic and spatial perspectives to problems of metropolitan areas: Approaching the impact of sprawl cannot be distinguished from the causes of urban dispersal and their motivating factors The promotion of competitiveness-related spatial policies is an internationally-oriented and place-focused activity Competitiveness depends on regulatory planning: The case of urban sprawl in Messoghia underscores the critical role of regulatory land-use planning structures in accommodating the pressures deriving from the pursuit of urban competitiveness. In the absence of policies geared towards social and environmental goals, the very success of competitiveness-related actions mortgages future growth prospects.