Land-Use Planning and Governance: A Longitudinal Analysis of Four Decades of Reform in Greece

Spatial planning systems are shaped by successive institutional reforms that may alter not only planning instruments and procedures but also the governance arrangements through which planning is organised and implemented. This article examines the evolution of local spatial planning in Greece over more than four decades through a longitudinal comparison of three successive generations of planning reform. Drawing on legislative and regulatory frameworks, official policy and programme documents, and the relevant academic literature, the analysis compares the three generations across common dimensions related to planning, institutional organisation and governance. The findings reveal a progressive broadening of the scope and institutional demands of local planning, accompanied by changes in the roles and relationships of public authorities, coordination, participation, planning knowledge and implementation orientation. These changes, however, have not produced a linear transition from hierarchical towards decentralised or collaborative governance, nor a succession of clearly distinct governance models. Instead, the Greek case reveals a process of institutional reconfiguration in which new governance practices and relationships develop alongside persistent institutional characteristics. The study highlights the value of longitudinal comparison for understanding not only the dominant configuration of planning systems, but also the trajectories through which their governance arrangements are progressively transformed over time.