The issue of housing in Greece has been the subject of extensive research, which has highlighted in depth the permanent characteristic traits and the multiple dimensions of said issue in Greece, as well as the changes that have taken place over the past few decades, such as the increasing inequalities that exist in terms of the population’s access to affordable quality housing, around which claims are being developed and possible solutions formulated.
Housing, a basic human need and a fundamental right, has emerged today as a major social and political stake. The website “Housing360” presents all the existing knowledge around the subject as well as the relevant current discussion in a clear and easily readable manner, aiming to render the issue’s particular traits, multiple dimensions and extent more accessible and understood within the context of Greek reality.
The website covers 9 topics, which although they’re distinct chapters, in fact they form a cohesive and comprehensive text. Those topics are: rents, short term rentals, speculation and financialisation, vacant houses, youth housing, home ownership, energy poverty, vulnerable groups and urban space. In the future, the website can be enriched with additional chapters on more topics, should the need arise.
Combined with the “Policy Paper: For the right to affordable rental housing”, the aim is to open a constructive public debate that would explore the necessary and appropriate responses to the current housing crisis, which wound, in turn, lay the foundation for securing the right to housing for all.
Dimitris Balampanidis holds a PhD in Urban Social Geography from Harokopio University of Athens, an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and a Diploma in Architecture from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). His research focuses on immigrants’ housing pathways and entrepreneurial activities, ethnic residential segregation and transcultural coexistence, as well as housing policies, urban and regional planning. He has conducted several research projects at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), the Urban Environment Laboratory (National Technical University of Athens), the research department UMR Géographies-Cités (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, CNRS) and the École Française d’Athènes (EfA).
Stefania Gyftopoulou is an architect with an Msc in Building and Urban Design in Development from UCL. Her work focuses mainly on politics of space and the role of participatory design practices in response to the challenges of marginalisation and inequality. She has previously worked as a coordinator for infrastructure and housing projects in refugee shelters in Attica and the city of Athens. Stefania was also Project Manager for the Housing pillar of the three-year European pilot programme “Curing the Limbo”, implemented at the City of Athens and co-financed by the European Commission’s initiative UIA (Urban Innovative Actions). She’s currently working as a technical advisor for the European pilot programme “CULTURAL H.ID.RA.N.T.” at the Municipality of Chalandri, which concerns sustainable urban development through the organic integration of Hadrian’s Aqueduct in the city’s everyday life.
Eva Papatzani is a PhD candidate and researcher in Urban Studies and immigration issues (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens). Her research focuses on the geographies of immigrant and refugee settlement, on protracted displacement and migratory mobility, on issues of international encounters, relationships and micro-segregations in urban spaces as well as on issues related to housing. She has worked as a researcher for national and international programmes at the National Technical University of Athens, the School of Spatial Planning and Development of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the Department of Geography of the University of the Aegean and the Research Centre for the Humanities (KEAE, Athens, Greece).
Post-doctoral researcher (Department of Sociology, University of Crete, IKY Scholarship) on youth housing conditions in Greece. Holds a PhD from the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (NTUA), a master’s degree on Architecture and Urban Culture (FPC/UPC) and a diploma on Architecture (NTUA). Her work focuses on urban geography and housing, housing inequalities, public housing policies, alternative initiatives and social movements, with a special focus on Southern Europe. She has collaborated in European and Greek research programmes and has worked in the field of social welfare at the Ministry of Labour. She is a member of research networks and groups.