Athens 2035: From airport expansion to waterfront revamp

The announcements, plans, and presentations of new or updated projects in Greece's Athens will give the city a changed look around 2035, if all plans are completed as planned.

Some of the changes in the city will include refurbished mixed-use industrial spaces, more green public spaces, and areas encouraging cultural activities, according to a sampling of projects shown below, CE Report quotes ANA-MPA.

- Athens International Airport will have an expanded main terminal, new parking places for airplanes and cars, and a total expansion of premises by 68% or 150,000 square meters. The plan aims to accomodate up to 40 million passengers annually.

- The former Hilton Athens hotel will be operating as the Ilisian, a hotel (Conrad Athens The Ilisian) and permanent residences (Conrad Residences, Waldorf Astoria Residences).

- Line 4 of the Athens Metro will connect the neighborhoods of Kypseli, Galatsi, Exarchia, and Zografou and trolleys have been replaced by electric buses.

- The Attikon-Apollon Theater for theater performances and film screenings on Stadiou that was burned in 2012 will be rebuilt, with a restart of original operations, along with connecting galleries (stoas).

- Arsakion Hall, which housed bookstores and courts near Omonia, will operate as a food gallery run by Legendary Food and showcase Greek products at Stoa Agora (its section on the corner with Stadiou Street).

- Restored and upgraded Minion, the historic store destroyed by fire at Omonia Square, will include both offices and stores. A new hotel, Moxy Athens City, at the classical building Saroglio Hall, also at Omonia, will help revive the area along with other revamped hotels. The buildings lie within walking distance to the National Archaeological Museum, expanded by 30,000 square meters and upgraded.

At Votanikos, the Athens suburb, the new Panathinaikos soccer field will have spurred an urban regeneration in a currently downgraded area, with a green space that is 1.5 times greater than that of the National Garden.
South of Athens,

The Ellinikon project will serve as a new gate to metropolitan Athens, with a large open park, office spaces, schools and residences. The coast of Athens will include the Riviera Galleria, the new marina at Aghios Kosmas, and a skyscraper, as well as the Ellinikon Mall, the largest mall in Greece and the large Ion technological center for startup collaborations in Greece and abroad.

In Piraeus, the port city will revive with the full services at the Piraeus Tower, the iconic high-rise that will include officers, spas, small restaurants, and synergy spaces, while the new Court Hall nearby will include open spaces of greenery, small squares, walkways for pedestrians and atriums full of light. Older industrial buildings will have been turned into mixed-use buildings with residences, cultural spaces, and green spaces creating a mini-city within the city.

Overall, Athens' image in 2035 will reflect a more conscious turn of direction towards public spaces, landscaping, and development that does not rely exclusively on construction, but includes reuse, green spaces, and a city that works for its residents on a daily basis.

As reported by CE Report, Greece's capital recorded the coldest Christmas Day.