Exploiting the Hellenikon site
It seems that the debate regarding the future of the site of the old airport at Hellenikon and the exploitation of its 530-hectare expanse is nearing a conclusion. As expected, we will see urban development across a significant section of this expanse, for as the government argues, the Greek taxpayer cannot be expected to pay for the construction and maintenance of Hellenikon Park. However, it is not yet clear how much of the site will be covered in concrete – 100 hectares, 130 hectares? Former Socialist Prime Minister Costas Simitis had referred to Hellenikon as «the largest metropolitan park in Europe» and had not mentioned any impending urban development on the site. The current PM, Costas Karamanlis, shortly before his election last year, had suggested that the site would not be handed over to developers, a pledge newly appointed Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias had reiterated a couple of months later. But just a few days after that, Souflias’s general secretary declared that the development of the Hellenikon site would be restricted to 100 hectares at most, if it happens at all! Fair enough – nobody seriously believed that such a prime piece of land would escape development; there is too much profit at stake. The issue in the case of Hellenikon is how much and what kind of development will be carried out on the site and how its transformation will influence the image of the area in general…
