Summary:
“Urban vacuum”, “back door” of Athens, “unprecedented case of spatial discontinuity”. These are some of the characterizations that have been given to the area of Eleonas by scientists and scholars. But for hundreds of years, Eleonas (which means “olive grove”) was a much more different place, forming an unprecedented anthropogenic landscape, on either side of the Kifissos river, with more than 117.000 olive trees.
Nowadays, Eleonas, with the strongest signs of industrialization and deindustrialization, entangled in the bureaucracy and overregulation, is of crucial importance for the basin of Athens, both in terms of the environment and spatial planning, with more than 9.000 reasons -as well as its hectares- to be reformed radically.
At present, any institutional efforts have remained at the level of intentions, as it is clear that changing laws or land uses alone cannot be a sufficient condition for reversing this decline. It will take time, money, tenacity and persistence to put in order this urban chaos.
Against this undeniably difficult background, which is compounded by the financial crisis, it is imperative the need to implement the urban solid waste management policies and plans for Attica that have been embroiled for decades, placing our country in final position considering waste management among EU countries.
Already, almost all the municipalities that have land within its borders see in the de-activated areas of Eleonas a first-class opportunity for the development of infrastructures for mild waste management through the creation of Green Points and Recycling and Education Centers, while the new design even envisages the possibility of building a central Waste Processing Unit that will serve the central area of Athens (where a Transfer Station was planned to be built until a few time ago).
Are waste management infrastructures a deterrent to the prospect of reforming the site or are they an imperative choice based on the principle of proximity?
Is it allowed in the site that was planned to build a Waste Transfer Station to create a central processing unit and how compatible it is with the land uses of Eleonas?
How can infrastructures and mild forms of recycling be promoted, while not foreseen by anachronistic land uses?
These questions attempt to answer the present work, contributing to the long-lasting scientific dialogue for its utilization.
Keywords:
Eleonas, waste management, land uses, Transfer Station, Local Waste Management Plans
