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”. 

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