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Anastasia Balezdrova

The members of the Economic and Social Council of Greece presented today their proposals for overcoming the crisis in central Athens. According to them, the reasons for its emergence and development are many and varied and in no case, are they due to the economic crisis that has just deepened the problem.

In recent years, the historic centre and other neighbourhoods in the heart of Athens have lost their urban functions. Those residents, who could afford it, moved to the suburbs and the centre was taken over by representatives of marginalized communities. This led to increased crime and as a result, trade and business started to decline as well as tourism, which is particularly important for Greece. Many abandoned buildings have become havens for drug addicts; prostitution has increased and combined with the inflow of illegal immigrants all this has made many of the most central locations downtown almost impassable.

According to Council members, simple renovation of some old buildings and "decoration" of squares and streets are not sufficient to solve the problem, which they describe as an 'emergency'. So, what do they propose?

First on their list is the promotion of entrepreneurship. Medium-sized companies, which will be established by young people with innovative ideas and which will not depend on state funding and therefore, will not be controlled by the state. The aim is to create companies able to survive in tough market conditions. For this purpose, the Council proposed reduced taxation for certain categories of entrepreneurs, repealing the obligation to pay certain local taxes under certain conditions and removal of restrictions on the types of activities.

As for tourism, they offer a revision of the plan for the presentation of Athens and support of the initiatives taken by trade unions and civic organizations in this regard. It is necessary to create more information points for tourists and conditions for domestic tourism. One of the interesting proposals in this direction is the launching of packages that will include accommodation, food, shopping, visits to theatres, galleries, cultural foundations and more. It is believed that this would attract tourists from Cyprus and also from the regions surrounding Athens, with their easy access to the city by road or rail.

The measures to tackle crime focus on strengthening police patrols and the prosecution of offenders, among whom are owners of apartments illegally renting them to illegal immigrants. In many cases, dozens of immigrants live in such an apartment, each of them paying a separate rent.

Other measures are limiting illicit trade in the streets, immediate destruction of seized goods, patrolling in areas where vendors of illicit goods gather and tougher penalties for shops involved in the traffic.

Not least, they put public participation. Citizens can help by providing volunteer activities such as photographing old and neglected buildings, participating in patrols, cleaning monuments, streets, squares, sidewalks and organizing walks in the city.

According to Council members, one of the most important measures must be the revival of the property market in the city centre.