Despite Expenses, Athens Enjoys Transit Legacy of 2004 Olympics
The 2004 Olympics in Athens burdened the city with underutilized venues and deep debt. But the event also vastly improved pedestrian and public transportation.
"Yet as urban scholars begin to measure the legacy of Athens' Olympics, if they look only at the costly and visible sports venues, they may miss some more mundane, pedestrian things with more lasting significance. Like pedestrians. And subways.
The Olympics showered money and imposed deadlines on long-languishing projects including new subway lines, a tram and suburban rail. A network of pedestrian-only streets in central Athens included removing autos from several busy arteries to create a broad pedestrian way linking key archaeological sites."
This piece looks at this transit legacy of the games and suggests that the expense of the 2004 games was not all a waste.
Published on Monday, September 13, 2010 in
Topics
- Regional Planning Paradigm Shift in Southern California
- The $64 Million Intersection
- Minneapolis Officially Ends Single-Family Zoning; Change to Take Effect January 1
- Urban Planning, Explained
- Developers Seeking Approval for Chicago's Second Tallest Skyscraper
- What Would Cities Look Like if They Were Designed by Women?
- The Suburbs, Reimagined
- $900 Million in BUILD Transportation Grants Announced
- Torrent of Pro-Housing Policies Could Overwhelm California's Planners
- SUVs Pay More to Park in Montreal
- Tenant Protections Expanded in Pasadena
- California Town Looks to Rebuild After Wildfire, but No Clear Path Forward
- A New Approach to Bus Priority in Olympia, Washington
- Climate Change Education to Be Compulsory in Italy
- Lawsuit Would Force Central Valley City to Comply With California Housing Law
- Opportunity Zone: A Superyacht Marina, Adjacent Luxury Apartment Development
- APA Opposes Withdrawal From the Paris Climate Agreement
- New SFMTA Director Hired From Nelson\Nygaard
- Transportation Planning Reshuffled in Atlanta
- Reimagining Infrastructure
