Exceptional Social Housing in a Residual Welfare State: Housing Estates in Athens, Greece

Abstract

This chapter describes housing estates in Athens, Greece in terms of their number, the periods in which they were produced, the public agencies involved in their production, the profile of their beneficiaries and the changes they have undergone since they were produced. It also provides a map of housing estates in the Athens Metropolitan Region depicting their various spatial patterns. Housing estates are a rather exceptional form of social housing in Athens. The fact that rented social housing has never been developed in Greece has limited housing estates not only in terms of their number but also in their social function. Thus, housing estates in Athens have never formed a sector of the housing stock serving the needs of the most vulnerable population groups. Instead, housing estates followed the dominant trend of the local housing provision system-i.e. the promotion of socially diffused homeownership-but played a relatively minor role in the whole process.

Lessons Learned from a Pan-European Study of Large Housing Estates: Origin, Trajectories of Change and Future Prospects

“…Although there are fewer housing estates in some cities, for example, in Athens (Kandylis et al 2018) or Brussels (Costa and de Valk 2018) and even if they have been built outside the city central areas as in Paris (Lelévrier and Melic 2018), they are still a common characteristic in virtually all European cities. Despite many similarities in form and function, large variations among housing estates exist between European cities.…”

“…These apartments were often seen as a final destination in the housing career; they were carefully and scientifically designed to meet the expectations of families and then replicated in large numbers. In many European countries, the first residents were middle-class or affluent working-class families (Andersson and Bråmå 2018;Murie 2018); in others, the profile of residents was more diverse and included large shares of immigrants (Lelévrier and Melic 2018;Kandylis et al 2018). The subsequent trajectory of change-lowering of social status and increase of immigrant population-bares more similarities, although the pace of these changes yet again varies from country to country and from housing estate to housing estate.…”

“…Public financing occurred to a lesser degree in Southern Europe and especially Athens, where housing estates have always been under private ownership (Kandylis et al 2018). Governance structures were devised that were regarded as appropriate for public ownership and management.…”

“…Although private ownership is usually related to better housing maintenance, it does not always work this way in large housing estates for various reasons (Kandylis et al 2018;Marin and Chelcea 2018). First, private ownership of apartments puts them morally outside the realm and responsibility of local and central governments.…”

Η Κοινωνική Κατοικία Στην Αθήνα

“…τις αριθμός των ορόφων) και βάσει αυτών των ποσοστών να γίνει ο υπολογισμός των χαρακτηριστικών (δημογραφικών και κοινωνικών) του πληθυσμού των συγκροτημάτων κοινωνικής κατοικίας(Kandylis et al, 2018). Τα εκτιμώμενα ποσοστά και για τις δυο περιοχές μελέτης ποικίλλουν μεταξύ 10% έως 88% (Πίνακας 7).…”