Glyfada- Peristeri
Glyfada and Peristeri are the two most representative districts of the southern and western districts of Athens respectively.
Modern and Contemporary era (1821 - )
1950 During this decade begins the era of intense urbanism and urbanization
Ottoman era (1453- 1821)
Byzantine era (331 AC- 1453)
Roman era (30 BC- 330 AC)
Hellenistic era (322- 31 BC)
Classical era (478-323 BC)
Archaic era (800-479 BC)
Geometric era (-1100- 800 BC)
Prehistory (-1100 BC)
What I can see
The districts of Glyfada and Peristeri are suburbs of Athens and major municipalities of its wider metropolis. Peristeri in particular is one of Athens’ largest municipalities. In Peristeri, as is common in all western suburbs, residents belong to the middle and lower economic classes, while Glyfada is inhabited mostly by the middle and higher classes. A quick look at the two districts’ houses and store signs reveals the differences between the two districts and highlights the social inequalities of a consumerist city in the age of globalization. Social disparities are however, not as intense as in other parts of the world.
What I can't see
The intense urbanization of the city began in the 1950s and peaked in subsequent decades. Three of the main reasons behind this evolution were the dominant lifestyle model (after the “American Dream”), the urbanization and internal migration and the antiparochi (flats-for-land exchange) system, namely the opportunity to construct high buildings and give one or more floors to the owner of the land. Western suburbs were thus urbanized dramatically and rapidly, following the classification of the population by income and subsequent mass lending from the banks. The southern and northern outskirts of the city are considered to be more robust, in contrast with the western parts. This stereotypical trend creates an informal conflict which in turn reproduces near-racist stereotypes among residents. Westerners are thought to be of a “low” social status and Southerners are the “nouveaux riches”, “superficial” and “quaint”.
Bibliography
Maloutas Th. (2003/4), Προβλήματα κοινωνικά βιώσιμης ανάπτυξης στην Αθήνα, οι μεταβολές της τελευταίας εικοσαετίας στην κοινωνική γεωγραφία της πόλης και η κρίση της ιδιότυπης κοινωνικής συνοχής, [Problems of socially sustainable development in Athens, the changes of the last twenty years in the social geography of the city and the crisis of its peculiar social cohesion], Paper, Athens Ε.Κ.Κ.Ε.
Stavridis S. (2010), Οι δρόμοι της μεγαλούπολης ως αμφισβητούμενοι χώροι, [The streets of a megacity as controversial spaces] in Giannakopoulos K, Giannitsiotis G. (ed.) (2010), Αμφισβητούμενοι χώροι στην πόλη, χωρικές προσεγγίσεις του πολιτισμού, [Controversial spaces in the city, spacial approaches of culture], University of the Aegean, Alexandria Publications.
SavageM., WardeA., (2005), Αστική κοινωνιολογία, καπιταλισμός και νεωτερικότητα [UrbanSociology, CapitalismandModernity], rev. Psimmenos, Athens: I. Papazisi
