Athens’ Pedion tou Areos Park Redevelopment Plan Scrapped

Pedion tou Areos Park. Photo source: Pedion tou Areos friends.

A plan to upgrade Athens’ central Pedion tou Areos Park has been scrapped after it was struck down by Greece’s highest court.

In 2017, Attica Region authorities announced that they would be channeling 1.5 million euros into repairs, maintenance and security at the Pedion tou Areos Park and an additional 6.5 million euros into new projects.

The Council of State cancelled the regional authority’s 10-year management plan, which it says, had failed to include environmental impact assessment studies and was never opened for public consultation ahead of redevelopment projects.

Among others, the court verdict also reinstates a previous revoked decision to demolish all arbitrary constructions which are part of the Alsos Theater, adding that in order for theater to operate legally, the “public use” status of the park must first be ensured.

Alsos Theater at Pedion tou Areos. Photo source: Pedion tou Areos friends.

“Although the Pedion tou Areos is a park of particular environmental and historical importance located within a particularly densely populated area, the management study, providing for special land uses in many of its parts, was not submitted for environmental pre-inspection ahead of submission for a strategic environmental assessment nor was it subsequently subjected to a preliminary screening process as foreseen for park regeneration projects, i.e. an urban development project,” said the court in its decision.

The court goes on to add that this procedure is a requirement in view of the fact that the study foresees the operation of an open-air theater for 2,000 spectators, which would “entail significant disturbance for the residents”.