Past, Present and Future: Expansion with (and without) Growth in Urban Systems under a Structural Crisis

By reviewing long-term dynamics of urban expansion in a representative southern European city, this study proposes a long-term interpretation of Mediterranean urbanization as a result of a structural socioeconomic 'crisis' related to ineffective local governance, weak regional planning and peculiar demographic structures. Athens' expansion exemplifies the difficult transition of many southern European cities into a new and more convoluted urban arrangement depending on the intimate relationship between urban structure, urban planning, social attributes, cultural aspects and economic factors. The article concludes with a discussion on future development paths of the Mediterranean cities, identifying informality, non-linearity and unpredictability of expansion path as important traits for reconversion of 'crisis' cities towards more sustainable and competitive growth models.