The Reform of the Hellenic Cadastre under Financial Duress and External Pressure in the Period 2009 – 2018
Evangelia Balla is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management. (Co)Promotors are prof.mr.dr.ir. J.A. Zevenbergen and dr. A.M. Pinto Soares Madureira from the faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation.
This thesis examines the development of the Hellenic Cadastre amidst the Eurozone debt crisis (2009–2018) and analyzes the ways in which fiscal strain and policy conditionality shaped one of Greece's most ambitious institutional reforms. Drawing on a multi-theoretical framework of land administration, policy science, and planning theory, it conceptualizes the reform as a process of non-linear, third-order change—intended to replace outdated paper-based land registry systems and formalizing property rights throughout the country into a unified digital cadastral system to support various state functions.
The thesis demonstrates how cadastral reform developed not only through legal and technical developments but also through institutional framing shifts, political will, and external pressure. It concludes that the accommodation of three frames—technical, legal, and economic—was crucial in advancing the reform process. This accommodation occurred during the crisis, as fiscal constraints, policy conditionality, and governance pressures accelerated transformation.
By conceptualizing land administration reforms as "wicked policy problems," the thesis depicts their complexity, particularly in contexts of political instability due to crisis. It argues that these kinds of reforms are iterative, contested, context-dependent, and open-ended and that crises may accelerate and complicate transformation.
The Greek case offers insights for other countries: land administration reforms require more than urgency and technical solutions—demand institutional flexibility, responsiveness to external conditions, constant coordination among actors, and deep awareness of historical and systemic legacies. It is, ultimately, a struggle to build long-lasting institutions on the foundations of public trust and social legitimacy.
