Re-think Athens: Urban challenges 2014-15

Athens’ urban space is an especially complex organism with as many differences from the metropolises of the developed world as similarities. The city’s unique features took shape during the era of post-war reconstruction, but continue to develop even in the current economic crisis.

“Re-think Athens: Urban challenges” examines the contemporary city in the light of the international experience and using a range of approaches. For 2014-15, the cycle will focus on various chapters in the history of modern Athens, with discussions focused on issues relating to the processes which have produced the urban environment, the ways in which it is depicted, and the activities of social groups in relation to the city.

These different thematic sections will explore:

• Representations of Athenian space in the Greek cinema between the eras of post-war reconstruction and economic crisis.
• The processes which have shaped Athens’ post-war reconstruction -primarily the practice of house/plot owners handing over their property to developers in exchange for a flat (or flats) in the apartment block built on their land; the consequences of this practice for Athens’ urban planning and society will be assessed.
• The social solidarity practices which have emerged in Athens in recent years, and their historical and ideological underpinnings.