The Significance of Place in the Relationship Between Tourism and Architecture: Thoughts on Greekness and Sustainability

This literature review paper explores the evolving relationship between tourism and architecture in Greece and the need for balance between growth and protection of local identity, landscape, and community well-being. It contributes to theory by proposing a model focusing on the significance of place as key for sustainable development. The analysis begins with postwar tourism policies that framed tourism as a tool for economic recovery, combining narratives of modernization with the projection of Greek cultural identity. Two distinct architectural approaches marked this era: large-scale hotel developments influenced by American standards, and a Mediterranean modernism introduced by architect Aris Konstantinidis, at the time head of the National Tourism Organization. In recent decades, challenges such as environmental degradation, overtourism, and the commodification of heritage call for a deeper engagement with the spatial and social dimensions of sustainability. Drawing on critical geography and cultural theory, the paper argues that architecture, through both timeless design principles and contemporary technologies, should not fabricate artificial identities but rather amplify the dynamic, lived identity of place. The paper concludes that sustainable tourism requires an ethos of place, in which Greekness is understood as a dynamic way of being, the way people inhabit and co-create environment. The paper addresses a gap in the literature by providing a theoretically grounded yet context-specific reflection on the role of architecture in sustainable tourism, proposing a conceptual model that integrates cultural identity, architectural design, and the dynamics of place.