Towards reviving post-Olympic Athens as a cultural destination

This paper examines the effects of global change on the status and qualities of the Greek national capital, Athens, focusing on how they affect the development of cultural tourism in the city. Although Athens constituted one of the most significant destinations for Greek tourism in the past, in recent years it started to weaken. Athens is characterised by a series of problems, among them are the degradation of its environment and quality of life and traffic congestion. However, in terms of tourism development, the Olympic Games helped in re-imaging the city and upgrading its infrastructure. This study based on semi-structured interviews with top officials reveals how global change has affected Athens’ socio-cultural/economic status, identity and image. Despite the tourism policy/planning responses to global changes, Athens’ tourism continues to decline leaving unexplored potential such as its rich cultural heritage, new multicultural identity and the New Acropolis Museum. The paper suggests that cultural elements of capital cities must be multidimensional including a variety of attractions and amenities. The use of cultural heritage assets needs to be in line with global developments in order for cities to effectively leverage heritage for cultural tourism

Olympic legacy and cultural tourism: Exploring the facets of Athens' Olympic heritage

This study examines the effects of the Olympic Games on Athens’ cultural tourism and the city’s potential to leverage the Olympic legacy in synergy with its rich heritage in order to enhance its tourism product during the post-Games period. In doing so, a qualitative and interpretive approach was employed. This includes a literature review on Athens’ 2004 Olympics to identify the sport facilities and regeneration projects, which constitute the Olympic legacy and heritage. Based on that, an empirical analysis was undertaken, by collecting official documents about the 2004 Olympics, and conducting five semi-structured interviews with tourism/administrative officials. The findings indicate that the Olympiad contributed significantly to Athens’ built and human heritage, revealing the dimensions of new venues/facilities, infrastructure, transportation and aesthetic image of the city, and human capital enhancement. Hence, the Games affected to the multifaceted representation and reconstruction of the city’s identity and cultural heritage. However, the potential afforded from the post-Olympic Athens remains unrealised due to lack of strategic planning/management. The study concludes that there is a need to develop cross-leveraging synergies between the Olympic legacy and cultural tourism for the host city. Finally, a strategic planning framework for leveraging post-Games Olympic tourism is suggested in order to maximise the benefits of Olympic legacy and heritage in a host city’s tourism development

Strategies of Integrated Interventions in Greece: Tools and Governance Schemes

The integrated approach to urban development consists is an EU policy direction, which was incorporated into the institutional framework by many Member States. This paper aspires to explore, through a critical presentation, the principles and aspects of spatial governance practices of the main tools of Integrated Urban Intervention in Greece. The research concerns governance synergies, both horizontally and vertically, and more specifically, the schemes, mechanisms and tools through which the coordination of the implementation and funding of actions may be achieved. The critical presentation of the governance of a relevant program applied in Germany for nearly two decades is expected to contribute to this effort. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

City competition and urban marketing: The case of tourism industry in Athens

This paper is concerned with the development of urban tourism in the area of Greater Athens. Porter's "competitive advantage" theory presents the elements which determine the success of an industry in an interactive environment where competition acts as the engine of growth. The paper presents the basic aspects of the development of tourism in Greece and in the area of Athens together with the main weaknesses of the sector. This will be followed by suggestions on the directions the sector can seek for further improvement, exploiting the advantages generated by the 2004 Olympic Games. As a guide, the theoretical frames and examples of the policy applied in Barcelona will be used. © University of the Aegean

Typologies of bottom-up planning in southern Europe: The case of greek urbanism during the economic crisis

[No abstract available

Climate change and green networks. Spatial planning provisions at the Greek metropolitan areas

Climate change has recently emerged in the scientific dialogue as an important environmental issue. Several policies from the global to the local level have been formulated to frame the actions and measures that will enhance the resilience of societies and space. The focus is on outlining goals, objectives, and strategies both for mitigating climate change impacts and for adapting to reduce its effects and ameliorate vulnerability. The Greek National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (2016) includes certain adaptation measures that relate to the design, increase and integration of open / green spaces, and recognises spatial planning as a framework for the effective coordination of adaptation policies. This work focuses on the recording and evaluation of relevant policies that are formed at the metropolitan level in Greece, with emphasis on the organisation of green networks, as provided by strategic spatial planning. The study reveals that the effective contribution of spatial planning lies largely in the way it is utilised as a governance tool for policy coordination and management and the efficient integration of the planning system, from the national to the local level. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Spatial strategies as a place branding tool in the region of Ruhr

The shaping of a strong, recognizable and thus attractive identity of a place is closely linked to the process of effective planning, both on strategic and physical level. Heritage is a common branding tool that relied on the exploitation and presentation of, among others, urban forms related to the past. This research seeks to connect spatial strategies and place branding through the case study of the Region of Ruhr. The Ruhr Valley has long been linked to the industrial history of Europe due to the concentration of mining and steel industry. Today the region is undergoing a restructuring process. This work will focus on the strategies and actions implemented with an emphasis on the development of the Emscher Landshaftspark developed in the 1990s. The aim is to examine the gradual creation of a new identity through the sites’ transformation by identifying typological characteristics among the network’s flagship projects. Α key question is whether individual interventions compose a comprehensive and time-resistant branding strategy in conjunction with directions and practices of spatial planning formulating a distinctive model. The function of the main narrative as a framework of governance processes is going to be explored. © 2020, Springer Nature Limited

The EU territorial cohesion discourse and the spatial planning system in Greece

This paper argues the changing nature of spatial planning in the recent decades, under the light of the relevant progressions that have been taking place at the EU level. It is suggested that the EU territorial cohesion discourse and its relevant -although less developed- policy tools are in line with and promote a new orientation of spatial planning that is characterized of an integrated approach which is spatially aware and aims to guide development in order to avoid or minimize spatial imbalances and to increase the effectiveness of policies according to the territorial characteristics. This is an attempt to bring into light the new dimensions of spatial planning through the analysis of the relevant European concepts. In the first part, the developments at the EU level and their contribution to this new approach of planning are analysed. Following that, what is examined is how these developments and the EU territorial cohesion perspective influenced the Greek planning system and, more specifically, how the new traits of planning have been integrated and the degree to which the new approach is reflected. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Accessibility and development prospects: The web implications for local economy extroversion in Greece

In the contemporary age of access the role of "immaterial networking" has been highly reinforced, driving the emergence of the internet as an essential tool for the social and economic daily routine. The main spatial and developmental features of Greek small and medium sized centres play a major influential role on the development and use of internet applications. The research conducted has examined this interaction and identified two main tendencies. Dynamic and powerful centres, which are near the basic development axes, have a dominant position in the web, as far as both connectivity and use is concerned. Moreover, in some small and medium sized peripheral centres local enterprises tend to overcome their lack of accessibility through increasing the use of the internet. How can we measure this potential and come to more reliable conclusions? Is this procedure related to a local economy extroversion

Spatial parameters for the development of floating wind farms in Greece

The interest in offshore wind farm markets has recently turned to the use of the strong wind power that can be found in deep-sea marine areas with the use of innovative technology in floating wind farms. This activity attracts the interest of economic actors globally, with prevention still necessary to avoid potential conflicts with other maritime activities and protect sensitive local marine ecosystems. The main research interest of this study focuses on the role that the particular characteristics of the local legal framework can have on the spatial planning of activities. The steps taken in this gradual approach include current spatial planning practice, case law and the country’s experience in related projects. Concluding, an example of the possible spatial planning of FWFs, based on the current tools available in the country’s spatial planning system, is provided © 2022. by the author