14/10/2026
On 8 October 2026, Gimisis + Associates was delighted to participate in the OeAW Summer School “Urban Housing in Central and Southeastern Europe”, held in Vienna, Belgrade and Athens, and contribute to the programme with a presentation on tourism and housing pressures in Athens.
Presented by Vasilis Gimisis, Athanasios Kouretas and Dimitris Lioumis during Session 9.1 at Harokopio University, our work explored how tourism concentration and housing-market pressures intersect across Athens’ neighbourhoods.
Moving beyond city-wide averages, our research applies a fine-scale, data-driven GIS framework across 144 neighbourhoods, examining the spatial distribution of tourism activity alongside rental prices and other indicators. The aim is to identify where pressures are concentrated and provide a stronger evidence base for informed urban planning and sustainable tourism governance.
Following the presentation, an engaging and constructive discussion with academics and students from Austria, Serbia, France, Germany, Latvia, Greece, Poland, and Italy provided an opportunity to exchange perspectives on Athens’ housing challenges, the measures introduced to address housing pressures, and the broader question of how cities can balance tourism development with residents’ access to affordable housing.
These exchanges highlighted the value of learning across different urban contexts and sharing approaches to common challenges faced by European cities.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Thomas Maloutas, Researcher Emeritus at EKKE and Professor Emeritus of Social Geography at Harokopio University; Stavros-Nikiforos Spyrellis, Researcher at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE); and Dr. Angeliki Paidakaki, Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, Harokopio University of Athens, for their contribution to the Summer School and for fostering an engaging and stimulating academic environment.
We are also grateful to all participants from Europe for the constructive discussions and the valuable exchange of perspectives on the housing challenges facing European cities.
