Against the backdrop of the Greek urban environment and the challenges it faces, the discussion focused both on the past and the future of cities, with an emphasis on the housing issue and the role of infrastructure and public space. Dimitris Andriopoulos, speaking about the challenges we are called to address, stressed that “we learn from the history of cities. What we must do now, in collaboration with the state and society, is to make cities more resilient. Infrastructure and public space are obvious prerequisites, but we also need to study the successful aspects of each city’s past and, using the technology available today, as well as being guided by new needs, build upon them.”

Regarding the major issue of housing, he noted that “the housing problem can be solved if everyone works together. To resolve it, we need more than 10 years. Every responsible party must free themselves from the deadline of the next election and do something that will endure for everyone. That’s how all major cities have handled it. The key solution follows the most important rule of economics: a large amount of supply must be added to bring prices down. The problem will be solved if, for example, 50,000 new housing units are created. It’s simple math.”

The discussion was moderated by Makis Provatas, a journalist from ERT.