Urban Quality


Traditional Church	In 1955 there were only detached houses with gardens in Korydallos. The picture is characteristic.	The same street is very different today! High buildings cover everything and the children can not play in the street of their neighborhood.	In 1952 NotherWest the area has been inhabited by handily booths.People come from islands and look for a job near to industrial area of Piraeus.	The same area today has been transformed. It is clear that the modern buildings are increasing without town plan.

The street planning of Kato Korydallos, during the period of development of the Municipality, is characterized by wide streets in contrast to Ano Korydallos, where the development took place later. The symmetrical planning with vertical and diagonal roads may witness the settlement of wealthier inhabitants round the area of Piraeus initially. This assumption may be further enhanced by the existence of old mansions.

During the ‘60s houses with gardens are mainly built. During this period housing corresponds to the functional, financial and aesthetic needs of the inhabitants and offers quality of life. The quality of housing also ensured clean and secure environment of high quality. The topography, the natural orientation of the buildings, the light, the sun and the landscape which surrounds them were the parameters of the architecture of the first houses. Unfortunately, today most of these houses have been demolished and replaced by impersonal blocks of flats. Even the ones which have remained are outshone by the huge new buildings.

As it is shown in the map of the uses of the Municipality, the development was from the South to the North. The same phenomenon was noticed in the wider area of Athens and Piraeus. In the early ‘60s the area of Schisto and Ano Korydallos was developed. This expansion of the settling net has not been completed in the Municipality yet, because in a large part this area is outside the planning of the town (3000 acres). In the last few years there have been efforts towards this direction and the area is gradually being placed in the planning of the town.

A similar development in the urban planning of the capital can be seen in Korydallos. An intense building activity can be noticed during the years 1981-1983 (230000 cubic metres), while in 1984 the building activity is falling 55% (105000 cubic metres).

After 1985 there is stabilization in the annual production of volumes of 130000 cubic metres. In Kato Korydallos mainly new buildings are built following the system of ‘in exchange for’ old houses, as the prices of land are higher in this area. Problems of quality of housing are spotted in the outside the planning of the town area, the eastern side of Schisto and the part between Schisto and Ano Korydallos.

INCREASE IN POPULATION

THE AREA OF SCHISTO

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AREA

The settlement of Schisto has the most problems as far as urban organization is concerned. It is isolated from Kato Korydallos, with serious lacks in technical and social infrastructure. It includes a lot of arbitrary houses, and the old quarries, whose use today does not involve housing. This area includes the Northern part of the Municipality and its largest part is outside of the town planning, with the quarry zone, the park of Schisto and the non-built areas of Mount Egaleo. The area inside the town planning includes the settlement of Schisto, as well as houses in the west of Potamou Street. The consequences from the non-definition of the boundaries of the town and the problem of the areas outside the town planning are serious, because building is increasing in the areas outside town planning, with the anticipation of the legalization of the arbitrary houses. Therefore, the housing development is without planning, with unsuitable geomorphology. Despite the existence of a special study for the formation and development of Mount Egaleo within the boundaries of the Municipality, so that its forestall character is ensured and its use as an area of recreation is promoted, the development of housing is a hindrance. In the last few years there have been effort in order to give priority to the defining of the boundaries of the settlement.

1. The creation of a green zone, which will determine the expansion in the future, excluding any possibility of building development in Mount Egaleo.

4. The prohibition of arbitrary building and any activity which downgrades the area.