25-05-2009: "The City of Athens Greenery Charter”

Address
by Athens Mayor Nikitas
Kaklamanis on the Greenery Charter presented before Athens City
Council

The European Day of Parks was celebrated yesterday.
Today, after months of preparations and consultation, I am pleased to present
the City of Athens Greenery Charter.

We are the
first Municipality in Greece
and among the first in Europe and the world to
create a Greenery Charter.

The Greenery
Charter involves the codification of basic principles and policy axes which
will lead us from the Athens of today to an Athens which is more
modern, functional, people- and environmentally-friendly.

In
order to prevent misunderstandings which may disorient
the discussion and misrepresent the goals of this specific effort, I would like
to clarify the following:

The
Charter you have before you is not a panacea. It does not, of itself, suggest a
magic solution to long-term, complex problems. It creates a base and the
institutional framework upon which we propose the creation of a new
relationship between Athenians and the urban environment and its future.

It
is an initial indication of our readiness to:

• Sound the alarm which is imperative.
• Achieve through our effort an even better balance
  between built-up and open spaces, between degraded and affluent areas.

This
is an organized effort, a new strategy which, in a scientific and methodical
manner, initiates comprehensive initiatives to deal with dangers and
fundamental needs.

The
issue is too important to be handled in a spasmodic fashion, with hysterical
unorthodox and dead-end reactions that oftentimes, based on the pretense of demands for more greenery
in the city, condemn the capital to a catastrophic
inertia.

There
exists a need not only to protect greenery but also manage it so
that it may serve as a tool for the improvement of quality of life and deterrence
of climate and microclimate change, which are particularly unfavourable for the
health and prosperity of residents.

At
this point I would like to thank the members of the scientific team which
contributed to our efforts to establish the bases and institutional framework
of a wide-ranging, measurable redesign of the city's greenery.

I
would like to give them the opportunity to provide a brief outline, so that we
can all take heed of their well-founded opinions on the proposed Charter and
the prospects involved so that the Greenery Charter may act as a green route, a
road map that can alter our lives in the City of Athens.

Through
the Greenery Charter we aim to not only
increase the amount of greenery, but place suitable plant species in a suitable
location in a suitable manner. Because only in this way, with suitable
greenery, can we contribute to the improvement of the city's bioclimatic conditions.

The
question is how do we increase the amount of greenery and open spaces and, at
the same time, minimise the injustices and inequalities involved in
the allocation of urban greenery that pose a danger to social cohesion, public health
and economic development.

Although
an structured, scientifically-documented policy to prevent such risks does not
exist, the implications for the
environment will be irreversible.  

The
social implications will not be any
less problematic. Disadvantaged areas will be ghettoized, citizens alienated,
the city's appearance downgraded and the negative impact on social psychology
increased, while tensions will rise, violence will grow and the opportunities
for health and recreations will be reduced.

The
economic implications will be
similar, namely the depreciation of assets, an increase in the need for and
cost of installing power-guzzling cooling units and, as a result, a further
burdening of public health finances.

Together
with the economic implications, one must take into account the great cost of expropriating
property necessary for the expansion of greenery and the systematic
regeneration of downgraded areas of Athens.

Therefore,
I repeat the fact that, faced with these problems, neither spasmodic nor
unorthodox action must exist.

We
require an agreement with citizens
for joint action which includes providing them with information, their active
participation and mobilization in planned
initiatives aimed at increasing the amount of urban greenery, regenerating
areas, use of cooling materials, reduction of man-made heat, freeing up of
common areas and the application of techniques that provide better shade and
ventilation.

In
the presentation that follows you will see the long-term, medium-term and short-term
strategy of the Greenery Charter.

Today,
we will vote in the regulatory decrees.

When
speaking of protecting greenery, we must abide by the principle that whoever does damage to greenery must pay
for it.

New,
correct behaviour is not adopted through simply issuing fines. Through the
Greenery Charter we invite all citizens, the scientific community,
non-government organizations and associations to implement best practices. We will commend
them and promote them.

This
is the essence of our proposal for the introduction of Green Week.

That is, through a collective
effort, we put the Greenery Charter into practice and Athens, in turn, becomes a Phil-eco-poli
capital.