Working-class property developers and the right to housing in the Greek city

Stelios Gialis, Kostas Gourzis and Andrew Herod

Chapter 15 in Handbook of Labour Geography, 2025, pp 270-282 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Drawing upon key Labour Geography concepts, this chapter explores how the Greek working class challenged housing shortages by taking advantage of the state policy of antiparochi, a practice wherein individual landowners convey their land to a contractor in exchange for a number of newly built apartments on that land. Moving beyond accounts viewing this policy as a generator of a peculiar type of semi-informal urbanism, we suggest that antiparochi is a contradictory process that has also allowed Greece's working class to play an important role in shaping cities. Moreover, we follow the struggles against eviction and displacement that have emerged during the recent crisis (2009–2015) that represent continued working-class agency in the shaping of urban space. Concluding, we stress that the hardest battles for the right to housing for urban Greek workers lie ahead, as antiparochi is seemingly no longer able to function as a stepping stone to homeownership.

Keywords: Labour agency; Urban space; Housing; Homeownership; antiparochi; Greek city (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781785363399
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