Informal Development Due to Market Pressure -- A Case Study on Cyprus and the Role of Land Administration
Results of a detailed two-year research conducted by the authors are presented in this paper. It is shown that, among other reasons, informal constructions also appear in several attractive European areas due to increased market pressure. In the first part an introduction on the current state-of-the-art of informal development in Europe is presented and the findings of the research are given in brief about three Mediterranean countries: Spain, Albania, and Greece. Although the social, economic, administrative and cultural situation and the extent of informal development vary among these countries, current identified major causes for informal development are: migration in search of work and shelter, lack of affordable housing, and increased market pressure combined with inefficient land administration and/or permitting and controlling procedures. In part two of this paper, an in-depth research on Cyprus, a country which had never experienced informal development until recently, is presented. The research aims to focus especially on the risk due to increased market interest, whose economic benefits overwhelm even the long established regulatory systems for the management and administration of land. 
This original research shows that informal development is emerging in Cyprus as well. This very new phenomenon is caused by the rapid national and international market pressure in both urban and rural areas of the island. A description of the land administration tools and the procedures regulating land development is given; weaknesses of the system to meet the current needs are identified; and proposals for its improvement are offered. Relevant statistics are derived through a research on the cadastral and planning data. It is proved that recent interest in popular areas often leads to informal development.Considerations are presented concerning the importance of a continuously upgrading multipurpose and reliable land administration and regulatory system, which is vital for the security of tenure, the support of the emerging market needs, and for providing for sustainable land-uses.
A Technical Tool for Urban Upgrading: An Application for Cultural Heritage Preservation and Planning for Affordable Housing
A technical tool to support projects for urban reforms and the implementation of current land policies is presented together with an example for its application in a project concerning the preservation of privately-owned residential buildings listed as “protected” cultural heritage (CH) constructions, urban planning and planning for affordable housing provision. The projects should be based on the voluntary participation of current property owners and an agreement signed between them and the private developer (team of professionals), so that the project will be self-financed through value capture measures to be decided by the state. The application presented here is based on the assumption that the state, by example, has set the rules for an increase in FAR in order to apply affordable housing policy and the preservation of listed CH residential private constructions. The state also provides the rules for identifying the target group of beneficiaries for affordable housing. Current property owners contribute the land, while the developer’s team undertakes all project costs. New property units are shared accordingly with the developer, the current owners and the beneficiaries for affordable housing. No additional public funds for the “affordable housing” units or for expropriation of the protected CH buildings is required.
Hellenic cadastre: state of the art experience, proposals and future strategies
Abstract In 1994, the Hellenic government, with the support of the European Union, started a project for the establishment of the Hellenic Cadastre (HC), which will be a title registration information system in fully digital form. It is estimated, that this project will last 20 years and it will cover the whole country. So far, digital photogrammetric Cadastral Surveys (CSs), named Pilot Phase and Main Program, of a total area of 893,000 ha have been commissioned and executed in various areas of Greece; 250,000 ha more were commissioned within the year 2000. Through this work, a surprisingly high level of cooperation between the private and public sector has been achieved. This paper focuses on the research and the progress that has been made in all scientific fields, such as the definition of the content of this project, the implementation of the responsible institutions/agencies for the HC, their administrative structure, the proposed regional structure, the development of the National Legal Framework for the compilation of the CSs, the adjudication procedure and maintenance issues. An emphasis is given to the experience so far gained in the legal and technical aspects, and especially to the proposals for an improvement of the methods, and to the attempt to create a cost recovery business culture for maximizing the products and services, which can be supported by the HC. This project requires major international and local experience and a high level of research in all the above mentioned issues, which has to be applied successfully.