The Report “Αθήνα” is a collection of impressions from the city of Athens. These impressions were constructed during the annual field trip between the 1st and 5th of April 2016 by students of MSc in Regional & Urban Planning Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The following is a reflection on the trip by RUPS student Kiana Otsuka:

“Through the lens of its rich history and current events, Athens made for a truly interesting and engaging space to study urban planning. Reflecting on what we learned about planning in the UK and other developed countries over the course of the year, what was most surprising to myself and many of my classmates was the lack of masterplanning in Athens, or rather the ineffectiveness of the master plans produced. Perhaps, the best example of this is the way in which most of the current housing stock was built, following World War II. The small scale housing blocks were built individually by small landowners and builders to address the need for affordable housing, rather than on a grand scale. This will be further discussed in an essay included in this report. Though this type of planning is often deemed as “informal” and “unplanned”, the cityscape reflects the purposeful reactions to crisis after the Second World War, influenced cumulatively by social and familial structures, politics, and the forms and organisation of labour, whereby construction drove the revival of the economy at the time.
Athens’ Olympic regeneration, financial constraints, and influx of refugees further made it a compelling choice of location for the MSc Regional and Urban Studies, annual study trip. The ‘15-’16 cohort spent 4 days in Athens learning more about socio-spatial issues, the municipal’s social policy program, urban resilience and sustainability, segregation and marginality of immigrant populations, land grabbing, privatization, gentrification, energy poverty, vulnerable households, homelessness and responses to housing issues, and metropolitan planning and governance.
This report is comprised of the thoughts and impressions from what was learned and experienced by students in this year’s cohort. Students delved into topics that include housing issues, Olympic regeneration, the National Technical University of Athens as a space for political expression and contestation, the pedestrianisation of Panepistimiou Street, and the mixture of ancient and modern streetscapes.
This trip would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Planning Society President, George Kapraras. George worked tirelessly with University of Athens academic, Thanos Pagonis to plan a wonderful, educational and eye-opening trip to his home country. In addition, the Regional and Urban Planning Studies cohort would like to thank Penny Koutrolikou (NTUA), Maria Stratigaki (Vice Mayor of the Municipality of Athens and), Eleni Myrivili (Council Member of the Municipality of Athens), Sofia Avgerinou (Head of Planning Department at the University of NTUA), Maria Kalatzopoulou (National Cadastre & Mapping Agency and LSE Regional and Urban Planning Studies alumna), and all the rest of the lecturers for graciously giving their time to educate us about urban issues in Athens.”