Written by Konstantinos Konstantinidis of Amphiktyon
A keyword that is now rarely used is “Decentralization”, because the entire population of Greece must come to Attica and the countryside must be completely deserted. But climate change comes to warn us that neither the countryside has life nor Attica anymore. Chaos is daily with traffic, heat waves, downpours, garbage, the scarcity of housing, the transformation of Athens into a jungle of immigrants, etc. The story begins in the 1950s and 60s, when the first phenomena of urbanism were visible, which began with the civil war due to persecution. Urban planners were sounding the alarm. In fact, the internationally renowned urban planner Constantinos Doxiadis (the one who designed Brasilia) had prepared the urban plan of Greece with the creation of the famous “Oikoumenopolis” Doxiadis. The plan envisaged the development of the country’s urban fabric along the coasts. Thus, the plains would be left for agricultural production and the mountains for livestock farming. Especially for Athens, he had sounded the alarm that it had no future with the current malignant development and the Government and Ministries in the historic center around Syntagma and proposed: 1/ the transfer of the administrative center to Tatoi. At the time, it seemed very far away 2/ Brave decentralization with the “Oikoumenopolis” But at that time there was no politician with a vision. “Ethnarchis” K. Karamanlis: a/ Destroyer of Cyprus (with Ioannidis and Makarios) b/ Of Athens, with the implementation of the “Compensation” law, he destroyed not only Athens but also all the cities of the country that followed this model of urban development. Everything was done for the party interest, resulting in the building of the “monster” of Attica, even its streams, forests, mountains and hills. In the past, urban planners proposed brave Decentralization by providing strong incentives for the relocation of industries. This had to be accompanied by the construction of infrastructure in the province to gain a pole of attraction (motorways, railways, airports, ports, communications, housing, etc.) At that time, governments gave priority to everyday life, that is, to Attica. We received several packages from the EEC and the later EU which were wasted on showcase projects within the basin and the central axis of the road network. Little was done for the development of the countryside. A typical example is the Athens-Thessaloniki and Athens-Patras roads, which became the two sinks of EU funds for patches and were not built into motorways and metros. Now these have recently been completed. The same happened with the Athens metro, the first hint of which was made in the 1960s if I remember correctly and only a few holes were made later for pre-election “inaugurations”. And our ports are still in a primitive state. On the contrary, the junta, within seven years, built the country’s mountainous and island road network. Conclusion: 1/The problem of Athens is now a problem of Attica and almost half of Greece because 37.8% of the population is located in Attica. It has been saturated in every respect and now other solutions must be sought and not the obsessive development of Attica because this will exacerbate the problem 2/ The magic word that none of our incompetent politicians pronounce is the DECENTRALIZATION of the hydrocephalic monster without delay. 3/ It is imperative to stop the transfer of illegal immigrants to Attica and the expulsion of those settled in the historic center of Athens and in the old neighborhoods that have now been transformed into small third-world Kabuls and Chad 3/ Private initiative due to population and tourist needs put the “Ecumenoupolis” into action but with improvisation and abuse of the coasts. The political parties should study and include in their election program the urban regeneration of Greece and especially of Attica, our province and islands, if of course they have little time left from the theft, the usurpation, the scandals, the gossip and the insults within the Parliament. 4/ With decentralization, many problems that currently plague Attica will be solved at the same time, primarily the traffic and housing problems, and at the same time they will stimulate the province. 5/ Regeneration and balanced development, in addition to beautifying our Greece, will yield multiple economic benefits (28/11/25)
*Amphiktyon, Major General (retd) Konstantinos Konstantinidis Author, Member of the Society of Greek Writers http://www.amphiktyon.blogspot.com (My main blog AMPHIKTYON ARTICLES & BOOKS-POEMS(old) AMPHIKTYON.BLOGSPOT.COM (In English) ANCIENT OLYMPICS-ATHLETICS (The Olympic Games) amphiktyon-poetry.blogspot.com (My poetry collection) AMPHIKTYONBOOKS (books, studies and permanent knowledge)