Old Cities/New Projects: Rethinking Urbanity

The 20th-century forced Europe’s cities into a critical confrontation both with their past, on the one hand, and their rapid development in size and population, on the other. Given this history of sequential urban change which has often led to crisis, the sustainable ideals of the present are bolstered by demands for a better quality of life for all.

In the modern era, it has been the city, European or otherwise, that has proved the testing ground for radical proposals which have often provided solutions to problems stemming from environmental pressures and the prevailing asymmetries in social, economic and spatial relationships. City precincts once fragmented by huge roads have been reclaimed by pedestrians and turned into public space; urban avenues and city squares have been redesigned to meet human rather than vehicular needs, and the city has regained its conceptual porosity as the barriers and blockades of contemporary city life have been removed one by one.

In the wake of the completion of the “Re-think Athens” architectural competition, the Onassis Stegi is hosting a catalytic event which seeks to exploit the experience and ideas of world-renowned figures in the field of urban sustainability. Focusing on this issue at a time of crisis for Athens, the debate will feed into our critical rethinking of the city. The event will spotlight the broader issues which frame the successful transformation of a city, set the criteria for cities which are part of the solution rather than the problem in environmental terms, and elicit—perhaps, even permit—an evaluation of the impact invisible processes can have on the urban environment.