Understanding Good and Bad Resilience: The Case of Greek Cities in the Economic Crisis Era

Abstract

Government debt crisis and recession in Greece cause decline of the welfare state. This has been the result of the attempt of the Greek Government to reduce fiscal and macro-economic vulnerability to debt crisis through dismissals of public employees, cutting wages and pensions, shrinking social welfare public provisions. The state’s adaptation however caused increase of human and social vulnerability and (re)activation of historical and new social risks. On their side, vulnerable people, urban level institutions and social organizations employed novel resilience attitudes to manage the unexpected risks of everyday life and amplified vulnerability, all caused by the crisis. This type resilience at the urban level sometimes is widely beneficial, but other times harmful to the most vulnerable, the environment and the wider public interest, currently or in the future.