Retrofitting Athens: WeGO Champions Explore Sustainable Urban Solutions in a City of Heritage
The WeGO Sustainable Smart City Champions program continues its momentum this November 3 by successfully holding its workshop in Athens, at the University of Patras. Seen as a symbolic place of arts and human progress, Athens perfectly fits the theme of WeGO Champion’s fourth offline workshop: Urban Retrofitting.
Experts in the field, Professors Demetra Katsota and Alcistis Rodi (both from the Department of Architecture, University of Patras) joined our WeGO Champion advisor Dr. Alexandre Hedjazi to impart their experience on architecture and design, especially on research in Retrieving Athens and Coastal Domains, urban morphology and the making of more sustainable, resilient, socially cohesive, healthy and happy cities.
With their expertise and vast experience in sustainable, resilient, and regenerative urban design and implementation, Professors Katsota and Rodi engaged in a passionate and lively session with the Champions to grapple with real challenges of heat island phenomenon and green space promotion in densely populated and spatial competitive environment, as well as explore the historical center of Athen to see first hand the result of urban transformation projects.
Professor Rodi’s presentation focused on the idea of creating urban modules or plans based on walking distances as a way to address the environmental and social issues caused by the dominance of automobiles. The goal is to promote healthier and more eco-friendly lifestyles.
One of the results of the pandemic is the global call to create cities that support and encourage active lifestyles all the while reducing carbon footprints and improving quality of life through tighter community relations. By putting this goal at the forefront when designing public-use infrastructures, it naturally elevates the sustainability of the smart city. As young leaders, WeGO Champions have the power to re-center the focus back development to its inhabitants.
Professor Katsota, on the other hand, emphasized the urgent requirement for affordable housing that caters to various groups, including families, couples, young professionals, the elderly, students, artists, small businesses, and start-ups. The aim is to address the broader societal need for accessible and reasonably priced housing options, beyond the more exclusive and commercial offerings currently dominating the urban landscape in Athens.
The students were able to relate, especially in discussing the current urban landscape: how it often prioritizes commercial or upscale housing, dismissing the needs of different socio-economic groups. The professor then posited that adaptive and innovative strategies are required to create solutions that cater to a wide range of needs and incomes, notably in a city like Athens.
WeGO Champions eagerly showed up on the event day to imagine together the future of Athens through a lively session and an urban diagnostic tour of Athens’ Historical Center. The trip with the students focused on the Urban Block and the retrofitting of public spaces, as well as the urban mixed use, and repurposing of 158 built environments to compliment the lessons learned from the dialogue.
Athens, a site of world heritage and deep history shares its unique urban challenges and solutions in balancing preservation of culture and progress into the future. Retrofitting in Athens is a complex and ongoing process that requires collaboration between government authorities, urban planners, architects, environmental experts, and the local community.
A particular learning from one of the great efforts to pedestrianized Athens called the ‘Great Walk’ is also shared with the students: to always include the stakeholders in every step of urban development.
About WeGO
The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), is a membership-based international association of local governments, smart tech solution providers, and institutions committed to the transformation of cities into smart sustainable cities through facilitating public-private partnerships (PPP). WeGO was founded by 50 member cities in 2010 as the World e-Governments Organization, hence our acronym. In response to the evolving concept of smart cities, WeGO expanded its vision and mandate at the 7th General Assembly (2017) and its name to the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization. WeGO’s Secretariat is based in Seoul, Korea, and has regional offices in East Asia (Chengdu, China), the Mediterranean (Beyoglu, Turkey), Africa (Abuja, Nigeria), Middle East & North Africa (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), Latin America (Cuenca, Ecuador), and Central Asia (Almaty, Kazakhstan). As the leading platform on smart city development, WeGO’s mission is to share knowledge and good practices in e-Governance; strengthen administrative efficiency and transparency; advance digital capacity; facilitate civic involvement; bridge the digital divide and inequality; and promote cooperation solidarity among cities and local governments around the world.
WeGO serves for its members as their international platform to improve the quality of life, innovate in the delivery of public services, and strengthen regional competitiveness.
Press Contact:
Name: Kakim Danabayev
E-mail: kakim@we-gov.org
Phone: +82-70-4202-9169