BUILD BACK BETTER THE SELF-MADE CITIES

18 - 22 June 2025, Athens & Santorini, Greece

Actions for formalizing Informal Constructions & Improving the Geospatial Ecosystems, Land Tools & Land Policies

See conference information in Flyer (PDF)

NEWS

We would like to extend a warm thank you to everyone who participated in BUILD BACK BETTER: THE SELF-MADE CITIES.

With over 50 attendees, the event brought together a vibrant community of thinkers and practitioners.

Your presence and contributions helped make the event a true success. We are grateful for the energy, insights, and ideas shared

Welcome to Athens: Prof. Chryssy Potsiou, chair of the organising committee, main organiser and FIG Honorary President, welcomes all attendees to Athens. The final technical programme has been published:

Template for presentation (.pptx)

Tour to Santorini: Detailed information is now available. Book your trip and accommodation at Santorinin now - check more information under Programme

Welcome and background

This joint conference continues the ongoing United Nations Economic Commission for Europe & International Federation of Surveyors research that started in 2007 on informal construction and the formalization of the self-made cities in the UNECE region.

These "self-made cities" are rapidly developing urban areas with formal and informal constructions that often lack titling and/or compliance with regulations. Such areas face challenges like limited services, increased disaster risks, unregistered constructions and residents, incomplete cadastral records and missing geospatial information, informal property markets, and an unregulated economy

Through the collaboration among UNECE Working Party on Land Administration, Real Estate Market Advisory Group, European Group of Surveyors, FIG Commission 3 on Spatial Information Management & FIG Commission 9 on Valuation and the Management of Real Estate, and World Bank experts, an international discussion and development forum we will promote professional practice and standards in the field of land administration and management, geospatial ecosystems and valuation/appraisal of real estate and will promote professional expertise.

Prof. Chryssy Potsiou
Main organiser, chair of the organising committee

Sponsors

Submit your abstract

 Submission of abstracts by 20 April 2025 
 Notification of acceptance by 27 April 2025 
 Submission of full paper by 5 June 2025 

• Submit your abstract here (abstract submission has closed)

Instructions for submission

Abstracts should be about 400- 500 words & informative (e.g., including objectives, methodology & main results)

Following the conference selected papers will be published in a special issue of the Survey Review Journal. This  is optional. Those authors who wish their papers to go through the peer review process, and be published in this special issue, are advised to check Survey Review  

Main groups of topics of interest include

• Formalization of informal constructions projects in the various UNECE member states
  (statistics, strategies & policies, legal frameworks, demolitions, resettlements, monitoring
  of progress, challenges and opportunities)
• Implementation of Local Disaster Risk Reduction & Recovery Plans (earthquakes, flooding, fires), infrastructure provision, Examples of good practice
• Improving the geospatial ecosystems & land tools (land administration, land use, planning/permitting, expropriation & taxation, land consolidation and land readjustment, affordable housing), regulations, procedures, accountability & legislation

Geospatial Technologies & Urban Resilience

• Utilizing low-cost solutions and geospatial tools (e.g., VGI, AI, drones, BIM, IoT) to formalize and improve cadaster and property records and urban management in formal or informal settlements
• Enhancing spatial data integration for urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, and secure geospatial systems to balance open data sharing with cybersecurity
• Community-driven approaches using crowdsourced geospatial data and participatory design to involve local communities in formalization efforts & other land management projects
• Case studies on spatial information management, addressing local challenges in informal settlements and evolving urban areas

Transparency & Data Management in Real Estate

• Formalization of sales and rental markets. Improving real estate market transparency through standardized data collection, valuation, taxation, and professional capacity building
• Evaluating centralized vs. decentralized databases for geodata, ownership, and transaction prices, balancing accessibility and security
• Assessing AI applications in real estate for valuation, market monitoring, and integrating crowdsourcing for reliable property data
• Analyzing property values & climate change impacts, exploring their role in urban planning, financing, and affordable housing solutions

Submit your abstract

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Registration

Register here (Excel sheet)
Register here Locals (Excel sheet)

Fees

Technical Tour to Santorini

Those delegates who plan to join the technical tour to Santorini, please register for the following tours. Please note that the following prices refer to groups of more than 15 persons, for less people there will be an extra charge.

Sunday 21 June
12:30-17:30 bus tour in the island with a guide, cost 35 Euros per person
Monday 22 June
8:30 cruise with a guide to the caldera and the volcanoes, cost 35 Euros per person
you must add boxes for the two tours in Santorini to register and pay in advance

Venue of the Workshop

National Technical University of Athens,
The School of Rural, Surveying and Geoinformatics Engineers, NTUA campus, Zografos, Athens

Accommodation Please proceed with hotel booking for Athens as there are only a few rooms available.  Please note that hotel reservations must be made early, as June is high tourist period for Greece. For your convenience, we have blocked a limited number of rooms, latest until the 10th of April, at special rates, at the: Central Athens Hotel, 21, Apollonos str., GR 10557, Plaka, Athens, www.centralhotel.gr Please check availability, rates, cancelation policy & proceed with your reservation asap through this specific link: https://shorturl.at/HOXK9 The special prices in this link are net per room, per night and including buffet breakfast and taxes. Kindly, note that rates do not include a Climate Resilience tax of 5.00€ per room, per overnight, applicable to all reservations

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Transportation to the conference venue & back Please note that daily transportation to the National Technical University Campus and other events will be provided. In case you will do your reservation in other hotels, please note that the meeting point for transportation is the Central Athens Hotel lobby. More information also for Acc. Persons and social/technical tours in Athens will be added soon"

Programme at a glance

Technical Workshop in Santorini

On the 21 & 22 June the workshop will be held in Santorini

These two days delegates will focus on the specific land management challenges of Santorini including market pressure & housing affordability, overtourism & services, agricultural challenge, climate changes & sustainability, disaster risk & safety.

Transport to Santorini

Delegates are advised to plan transportation to Santorini according to their own preference. There is daily access to Santorini either by ferry or by airplane (several flights per day)

Accommodation in Santorini 

SDuggested hotels:

• Volcano View www.volcano-view.com Special offer for our delegates 330 euros per night
• De Sol Hotel & Spa www.desolspahotel.com
• or any other Airbnb choice you may choose in Fira

Technical Tour Program 

Arrival to Santorini: either by ferry, departure on the 20th evening, or by air on the 21st early morning ( suggested hotel: Volcano View). 

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