If there is something truly distinctive about Greek cities, it's the paradox of how they grow. Expansion almost always comes first - sometimes legally, by bending construction rules to their limits, and sometimes outright illegally - and only later does the state rush to catch up, reshaping its urban and spatial plans to fit what's already been built. Elsewhere in Europe? It's a completely different story. Rules and reason have long been absent from the country's urban development, and the results are now impossible to ignore. Take Patras, for instance. This year's major wildfire burned through its suburbs - a predictable consequence in a city that has "stretched" by 103.5% since 1985, mainly eastward, until buildings now stand right beside forested areas. Across Greece, what used to be peri-urban zones have turned into dense cityscapes in just a few decades, all in the name of the right to "a roof over one's head." The latest...