Vivian Doumpa looks at three examples of bottom-up urban interventions completed in Greece, which show that a font of citizen spirit and ingenuity can help overcome the most draconian austerity measures.
"Greek cities have been suffering from poor public-led urban planning strategies, even before the economic downfall," says Doumpa. "However, there seems to be a vivid call for bottom-up initiatives that are able to directly improve urban conditions. NGOs, citizens, private agencies and also institutions start to engage themselves in new-style urbanism initiatives — step by step, place by place."
A public, interactive mosaic at a primary school on the island of Crete, a "luminous, colorful" lighting installation in Athens, and pop-up interventions all over Greece inspired by "an open community of Athens’ citizens," show that bottom-up urbanism can conquer the negative mood and stimulate public dialogue throughout the country, argues Doumpa.
FULL STORY: Three Inspiring Examples Of Greek Crisis Urbanism
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions