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This book is based on research carried out by the author in Greece, addressed initially to Greek readers, mainly researchers of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, National Technical University of Athens, where he served for a long time as professor. However, a great deal of the research has a definite international interest and its results form the backbone of his new undertaking in English. Although some of the observations included in the initial project are reproduced here, the gist of the author's arguments dwells on issues which are not of a narrow national interest. This book interests students and historians of town planning, whose area of reference is not only Europe, but also the countries which have been through a state of dependence and external domination, and had to import foreign planning ideas and concepts.

The author tries to embrace a broad spectrum of urban planning ideas, developments and influences which dominated the 19th century planning practice of a country which had just achieved political independence, but was still practically a protectorate of the great powers of the time, often referred to as the Protecting Powers (Great Britain, France and Russia). Every aspect of domestic policies and developments was directly dictated or indirectly influenced by the choices, policies, laws and actions of these external forces. It was also influenced by the advice and expert opinions of foreigners or even of Greeks, whose mode of conceptualizing the problems of the dependent country had been deeply affected by their life or education in foreign lands. Looking at this state of affairs more than two centuries after the 1821 Greek War of Independence demands full awareness of these conditions.