Analysis of the Athens Urban Regeneration Project - Term Paper Example

THE ATHENS URBAN REGENERATION PROJECT The northwestern region of Athens is undergoing powerful urban changes. As in other big cities, the economic and territorial restructuring also entailed deep social changes. The real estate industry in this area is picking up. The Athens Urban Pilot Project focused on the creation of an "Environmental Awareness Park" in one of the most deprived parts of the Greater Athens Metropolitan Area. The project transformed 1.5 kilometers of the underdeveloped publicly-owned land, the Queen's Tower site, into a "breath of greenery". The broader objective of the urban regeneration project was to change people's attitudes towards the environment by increasing their awareness of environmental problems and ways to overcome them. Physical improvements and environmental protection measures were designed to complement and facilitate leisure, training, and social activities on the grounds of the Park. The Park's development was based on a well-integrated Master Plan. The Urban Pilot Project focused on the first stage, which developed an area of about 0.7 km. The Project was implemented from January 1991 to June 1995. The planned cost amounted to 7.68 MECU, 75% of which comprised co-financing from the European Regional Development. The aim of the project was to address the poor quality of the environment and the economic and social blight. This project combines a scheme which would have an immediate impact on the quality of life of the local inhabitants, but which would also be of a broader benefit in terms of increasing the environmental awareness of the general public. The objectives of the Queen's Tower Park project were: to improve the quality of the environment in West Athens : a.) to develop leisure and sports facilities; b.) to increase the public's environmental awareness; c.) to spread the benefits of economic growth to local communities; d.) to unite members of immigrant minorities into the community's; e.) to push local authorities to develop a more integrated approach to their problems; f.) to foster trade activities to support the Park; g.) to preserve historic buildings within the Park's boundaries. DISCUSSION OF THE QUOTATION AND THE EUROPEAN LANDSCAPE CONVENTION The Athens Urban Regeneration Program mirrors the key themes of the Olwig quotation, "Architects who think only in terms of the power of scenic space, ignoring the exigencies of community and place, run the risk of producing landscapes of social inequality like those of the great eighteenth-century British estates It is also possible, however, for architects to shape environments that foster the desire to maintain the continuities that maintain a collective sense of commonwealth, rooted in custom but open to change." (Olwig, 2002). This quotation is applicable to the Athens Project since the architectural developments in that area focused on fostering close interaction among communities and uplifting their socio-economic welfare through well-paved roads, telecommunication facilities and other infrastructure upgrading system. The Athens Urban Pilot Project aimed to tackle environmental and social problems in West Athens. Prior to this development, this city district has been affected by rapid urbanization which, coupled with a lack of planned urban development, has led to a series of social and environmental problems. The district had no social amenities, inadequate social, educational, leisure and welfare facilities, and the absence of accessible green open space. Moreover, economic conditions became difficult. The decline in manufacturing employment in Western Athens led to high unemployment to the region, with a large proportion of the population on a low income. The area is filled with immigrants who transferred in the 1950s and 1960s. Graham et.al., (2000) argued that heritage exists simultaneously as an economic commodity. The economic functions of heritage have generally been presented as secondary and barely tolerated uses of monuments, sites and places, which have been initially identified, preserved and interpreted for quite other reasons. Heritage artifacts, collections, buildings, sites and places would continue to exist even if they possessed no intrinsic economic worth and made no contribution to economic well-being. There are many factors involved in preserving heritage. First, heritage costs money. Conservation can also mean forgoing profitable opportunities to develop alternative uses of buildings, sites and areas. Large sums of capital are used to invest the products of the past rather than in the developments of the future. Second, heritage is worth money and also earns it. This value can be utilized to provide a return in profits, incomes and jobs. The project in Athens consisted in the renovation of some buildings which were built in the 1960's. The European Landscape Convention states that the landscape has an important public interest role in the cultural, ecological, environmental and social fields, and constitutes a resource favorable to economic activity and whose protection, management and planning can contribute to job creation. The convention also stresses that the landscape contributes to the formation of local cultures and that it is a basic component of the European natural and cultural heritage, contributing to human well-being and consolidation of the European identity. The Athens Urban Regeneration Project supports and reinforces these key concepts of the European Landscape Convention as it improved the zoning and the physical infrastructure of the houses enabling its dwellers to live with dignity. Moreover, landscapes and other empirical manifestations of the heritage complex are in themselves unlikely to be 'real' or 'authentic', and may even have been purpose-made or purpose-built. Hall (2004) stated that cultural tourism refers to how social and cultural identities are managed and negotiated in the touristic environment in the face of the tourist gaze, and how such processes relate specifically to various types of cultural tourists. Discussion of the Architectural Concept During the pilot phase, extensive landscaping and environmental improvement works were undertaken, featuring artificial lakes, waterfalls, reforestation and flora diversification. Queen Amelia's and King Otto's estate and stables located within the Park's boundaries were refurbished and transformed into an exhibition hall and a training Centre for the Environment. New buildings were constructed to house the Park's administration and related public agencies which were already located on the site. The second phase of the Park's development was combined with the Programme for the Environment. The project showed how a declining peripheral area inhabited by low-income groups can be regenerated through a programme of environmentally and community oriented measures. About 88 hectares of the Queen's Tower site was developed as a Park. Several newly constructed buildings housed a vocational training school of the Greek Manpower and Employment Organisation (OAED) and the historic archives of the National Youth Institute. The project targets a population of approximately 120,000 people living in the direct vicinity of the Park. The Queen's Tower Park benefited a total population of around 500,000. The additional works on the site of the Park covered: the conversion of Queen Amelia's and King Otto's estate and stables into an Environmental Exhibition and Training Centre; a new construction to house an Information Office and the reception and management services of the Park; the creation of an open-air museum of the Attica flora, with associated training facilities; the development of an "eco-farm" demonstrating the organic and environmentally friendly methods for cultivation; the establishment of a permanent 'Green Fair' where organically raised horticulture products could be traded. The development of green and leisure space was combined with the development of facilities and activities aimed to promote environmental awareness. THE OVER-ALL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE PROJECT The employment impact consisted of 56 persons hired to oversee the Park, 80 permanent staff, and 108 permanent staff employed. The project has a positive impact. The creation of a park covered 88 hectares in the midst of the dense urban area of Western Athens focusing on the air quality and micro-climate. The systematic irrigation of the Park had a positive effect on the balance of the underground water table. The fauna in the region has also benefited from the Park's redevelopment with the birds both endemic and migrating species using the area as a nesting site. The Park provided a variety of environments, ranging from quiet wooded areas to waterside habitats, with suitable plant life for a wide range of fauna. The preservation, development and propagation of Attica flora and eco-systems will influence techniques of reforestation and methods aimed at "greening" the Attica region. This balanced environment is less susceptible to extensive fire damage and which requires very little irrigation. SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE ATHENS REGENERATION PROJECT The Park is benefited the lives of 3 million Athenians, by contributing to a radical change in their attitude towards the environment. The Park provided information and training to students and environment-oriented interest groups. The creation of the Park also contributing to the transformation of the area from a run-down, problematic, and at times, dangerous place to live into a secure, supervised, lively recreation center. The programs improved the urban environment of Western Athens and resulted in the cooperation of Organization for the Planning and Environmental Protection of West Athens and the support of the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Public Works. One particular programme deals with the transport and traffic infrastructure. A coordinating Committee was established to assist in the development of the project. A network of neighbouring local authorities, interested actors and agencies were brought together to supervise the development of the project. The Committee included representatives from: the Public Power Co-operation; the Youth Secretariat; the Sports Secretariat; the Water Authority; the Hellenic Railway Company; the Ministry of Agriculture; the Association for Ecological Agriculture; and the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources. The wide range of interests contributed to the feasibility and management studies for the Queen's Tower Park, and promoting the project's innovative ideas through channels of communication at a local level. This broad partnership is was crucial to the success of the project. A Management Agency manages the Park. During the inception phase of the project, the Athens Organization visited other European Parks, to learn from their experience: Holland's Efteling Flerenhof and Autotrom Parks, France's Samara and La Villette parks, and Spain's La Cantuea Park. The aim was to gain an insight into the possible methods and approaches that could be adopted by a Park that aims to promote environmental awareness by combining recreational, leisure and training activities. The visits provided valuable insights into innovations and possible management systems for an urban environmental park. They undertook a concerted publicity campaign to promote environmental programmes. The overall strategy adopted by the project was innovative in itself, applying a method of recreational planning that combined environmental and social considerations. Local community development were combined with concern for environmental protection and an emphasis on natural eco-systems, to produce an innovative approach to inner-city problems. Within the Greek context, a special and innovative aspect related to the management arrangements. Local government authorities from neighbouring districts collaborated to establish strategic objectives. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT The effective management structure behind the Athens UPP was seen as having been crucial to the success of the project. The Coordinating Committee provided a forum for developing a partnership approach. This allowed for both vertical and horizontal co-operation between different levels of government, as well as between different departments, authorities, agencies and private enterprises. By encouraging personal contact and joint decision-making between high-level officials of different agencies, mutual trust was established together with a communal belief in the project. The project demonstrated ways in which public administrations can benefit from close co-operation with independent experts and from international exchanges of experience. The Athens Organization was given the flexibility and scope to intervene where necessary during the implementation stage, in order to adapt to lessons learnt from others, changing circumstances and to the progress of individual sub-programmes. References: Bender, Barbara. (2004). "Inscribed Landscapes: Marking and Making Place. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Volume: 10. Issue: 2. Publication Year: 2004. Page Number: 455. Hall, C. Michael. (2004). Tourism and Postcolonialism: Contested Discourses, Identities and Representations. New York: Routledge. Cosgrove, D.& Daniels, S. (1988) The Iconography of Landscape. London:Cambridge University Press. Graham, B.et al. (2000). A Geography of Heritage: Power, Culture and Economy Arnold Hall, C.M 2005 Tourism: Rethinking the Social Science of Mobility Olwig, K 2002 Landscape, Nature and the Body Politic. Nobre, Ana Liza. Letter from Rio. The Architectural Review. Volume: 207. Issue: 1239. Publication Date: May 2000. Page Number: 32. "Favello-Bairro gets the Veronica Rudge Green Prize". Harvard Gazette. February 6, 2000. Read More