Green Networks Exarchia

Abstract

The phenomenon of urban heat islands (UHI) in Athens is well documented (LIVADA, S ANTAMOURIS and ASSIMAKOPOULOS 2007; MIHALAKAKOU , S ANTAMOURIS , P APANIKOLAOU , CARTALIS and T SANGRASSOULIS 2004). Studies range from descriptive research on the phenomenon and its development for the last decades to impact studies and adaption measures (S ANTAMOURIS et al. 2015). However, the relevance of this topic is shown by this year’s temperatures of over 40°C in the inner city and its densely populated districts accompanied by increased ozone levels (E UROMETEO 2017, www). Impacts are of environmental, economic and social nature (ibid.). The “Green Networks Exarchia” is a plan on how to tackle the problems of urban heat island in the city district of Exarchia in Athens. The “Green Networks Exarchia” describes the idea of connecting parks and micro-parks by transforming the streets into green corridors. The overall goal is to reduce the problems heat islands to determine the problem in general, to identify the problem in the district of Exarchia, to assess the goals and to elaborate ways to improve the situation. To conduct these tasks, a variety of knowledge and different points of view were necessary. This included, on the one hand, the views from different academic fields such as architecture, environmental planning and urban planning and on the other hand considers the different scales of the problem. Each field player an important role to achieve the results. Environmental planning, for instance, played a huge role in identifying the problem and designing the ways of how to green the spaces. The field of architecture contributed a lot in terms of concrete measures and how to implement them in the city district. The field of urban planning was important to coordinate the project and to plan the network itself. Although the project focused on the district level, all scales were important to observe. While the likelihood of heat waves react to the increase of heat days and UHI must be implemented on the local level.