Tripolis
Over the last two decades, Tripolis has seen a radical urban and architectural defacement. As architect and land planner Panayiotis Tsakopoulos explained, high building coefficients result in building blocks that are out of proportion to the public areas provided. «The height of the buildings is not limited by special ordinance but is determined in the GOK with the result that the skyline is spoiled by buildings as much as seven stories high. In addition, the buildings recede to create balconies which ruins the urban front, providing a chaotic image of the city,» he said The residents themselves have abandoned the rundown public areas. «The famous Constantinou 12th Street and Areos Square and its parks used to be a focal point for all ages up until the 1980s. Now only the old and migrants gather here,» said Tsakopoulos. As a result, the parks are no longer maintained, the squares are run-down, the main roads lack sufficient lighting and the public buildings have no signage. Nevertheless, the city has some positive features, added Tsakopoulos: its advantageous location, an ideal layout of squares and road arteries dating back to the 19th century, a network of open public areas, and the architectural stock and suburban area. «Tripolis possesses dynamic strengths in its urban planning, upon which a complete regeneration could be carried out, providing of course a policy change takes place first,» he said.
