We need more modern buildings, says technical chamber chief

The president of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) is defending the new building code that notably allows for higher, bigger buildings under certain circumstances.

In an interview with Kathimerini, TEE's Giorgos Stasinos says that there is a need for newer, more environmentally friendly buildings and proposes that planning offices that issue building permits be administered by the Environment Ministry and not by municipalities.

"Do we need safe, green buildings or just old buildings?" Stasinos says. Old buildings, he says, consume vastly more energy and are less protected from the frequent earthquakes that hit the country.

Stasinos notes that mayors and other local officials leading the opposition to taller buildings are doing so solely for populist reasons and that, if their views prevailed, we would end up with many smaller homes that only the very rich...