CHAPTER TWO: URBAN PLANNING AND REVOLT
2 The period between 1952 and 1974 comprises the most notable urbanization in modern Greece. Within twenty years, the population of Athens doubled after 1.5 million domestic migrants relocated to the city. 3 This was the US aid plan offered to European countries after WWII (mainly during 1948–1951). On one hand, it aimed to strengthen national economies, yet on the other hand it would serve US foreign policy, in the sense that it also aimed to prevent aidreceiving countries from entering the Soviet Union’s sphere of political impact. The initial recipients were those countries that—according to the US government—were in immediate danger from the expansion of communism, namely Greece and Turkey. 4 After Greece’s unsuccessful expedition to Asia Minor, the Lausanne Treaty was signed in 1922. The Treaty dictated major population exchanges between Turkey and Greece. As a result, more than 200,000 refugees from Asia Minor (Turkey) settled in the periphery of Athens during the 1920s and 1930s. 5 According to the 2001 census, migrants comprise 19% of the population in Athens municipality. Today it is estimated that they make up 30%. 6 This term, frequently used by the government and corporate media during this period, became a widespread slogan. 7 According to ESPON. 8 Until the mid-1990s, Athens had the characteristics of a compact city with mixed land use, increased residential densities and clear urban boundaries. Trends of spread from urban to rural areas (urban sprawl) have only begun to appear during the last fifteen years, leading its metropolitan area to acquire the features of a diffused city. However, this suburbanisation is limited to Athens’s metropolitan area, and in 2001 only 10% of the population lived outside its firm and relatively limited agglomeration. The percentage of suburbanisation in the metropolitan area stands at 10%, much lower than that of other metropolises (for comparison: Paris 81%, San Francisco 79%, Buenos Aires 77%, Los Angeles 75%, Milan 73%, Tokyo 68%, Barcelona 67%, Cairo 61%, Madrid 49% [Source: ESPON, Urban Audit]). 9 Even though the fourth CIAM took place in Athens in 1933—which praised the “functional city“ and opened the way for “zoning” of cities globally through the “Charter of Athens”—the city of Athens itself was never zoned, which has given it the urban vitality it retains to the present day. 10 According to Richard Florida, cities that attract gay people, artists, and ethnic minorities are the new economic forces of our era, because they are the areas inhabited by creative people. Creative employees make up the creative class, have a high level of knowledge and skills, and are called in to solve problems by incorporating innovative solutions and ideas. The creative class seeks intense social interaction and the coexistence of many different lifestyles, emphasising “public life” over “community life”; it prefers quasi-anonymity, the presence of minimal strong social ties, and the potential to be surrounded by strangers and different types of people. “Cities without gays and rock bands are losing the race of economic growth,” says Florida (see Florida R. The Rise of the Creative Class). 11 During the last decade, the Athens Stock Exchange and several ministries have been
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