Using Multi-Criteria Analysis for Urban Planning: Selection of Municipal Units in Which to Conduct Studies of Development Rights’ Transfer Zones (RTZs) in Greece

The transfer of development rights (TDR) is a legal instrument, introduced in 1961, that allows transferring of development rights from a land parcel where restrictions are imposed (sending parcel) to another land parcel (receiving parcel). TDRs aim to ensure environmental and cultural heritage protection with respect to the rights of individual land parcel owners, thus constituting a high impact tool in sustainability and urban planning. Although extensive research has been applied in defining development rights’ transfer zones (RTZ), mainly in the proximity of the sending parcels, limited is the research on defining this “proximity”. This research examines the process of identifying the areas that can host RTZs, using as a case study the implementation of TDR in Greece. Greek TDR legislation was challenged by the Hellenic Council of the State as non-conformant to the principles of rational urban and spatial development, thus requiring the identification of the areas that can host rights’ transfer zones. In order to align with the Council’s decisions, the Ministry of Environment and Energy introduced Law 4759/2020 along with Technical Requirements for the delineation of development rights’ transfer zones. Given that restrictions on the transfer of development rights do not exist in all municipalities in Greece, multi-criteria analysis was used to propose municipal units where studies on development rights’ transfer zones (RTZs) could be conducted, based on the number of sending parcels, geographic and urban planning requirements, and funding limitations. The analysis resulted in 83 municipal units, covering about 75% of the country’s need for development rights’ transfer. The deployment of RTZ studies in the selected areas would benefit the owners of the restricted land parcels (where existing TDR titles are currently inactive or where new ones cannot be issued) and assist urban space management.