Real estate market and property development dynamics in Greece are undergoing some critical changes, exhibiting a new condition which governs the relationship between capital and landed property in the current phase of capitalist development. A key feature of these changes is the formation of a property development pattern which clearly marks a break with the dominant conventional one (structured upon the small-scale owner occupation and the absence of big capital). The potential impact of this new pattern is difficult to assess as yet. Each pattern – the conventional and the newly emerging one – are affecting spatial development differently (in positive or negative terms). As things stand, however, there does appear to be a contradictory coexistence between the two; this is aggravated by inability of state and planning policy, in particular, to actively intervene in the changing spatial economy and society. Thus, there seems to be an inherent risk in the near future of having to cope only with the negative features produced by the two patterns which in a worstcase scenario could result in: continuous urban sprawl, non-planning and environmental degradation, increases in land values, overborrowing, reduction of public space and other socio-economic, functional and environmental bottlenecks.

Viewing an insular setting as a distinct risk environment, an effort is made here to develop a methodology for identifying core issues related to earthquake risk and disaster protection policy, adjusted to the 'specificities' of such a context. The methodology's point of departure is the inherent condition of the 'island operating as a closed system', requiring an attempt to assess and optimise local capacity (social, political, economic, institutional and technical) to deal with an earthquake emergency. The island is then treated as an 'open system', implying that in the event of a disaster, it should be able to maximise its ability to receive and distribute external aid and to manage effectively population evacuation and inflows/outflows of aid resources. Hence, an appropriate strategic policy approach could be developed by integrating the 'open' and 'closed' system components of an island setting. Three islands from the Aegean Archipelagos in Greece--Chios, Kos and Nissyros--serve as case study areas.

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