INTERREG III C POLYMETREXplus RINA Inception Meeting BOLOGNA JUNE, 2006 MAGDALINI K. SEGKOUNI E-MAIL: [email protected] ORGANISATION OF PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION OF THESSALONIKI (OR.TH.) What a pretty blue planet! Even submerged in darkness it is a beautiful sight! CONTENTS •1)GREECE IN EUROPE •POSITION •GEOMORPHOLOGY •THE 13 REGIONS OF GREECE •THE REGION OF KENTRIKI (CENTRAL) MAKEDONIA •2)THESSALONIKI IN EUROPE •THE PREFECTURE OF THESSALONIKI •POSITION •GEOMORPHOLOGY - ENVIRONMENT CONTENTS •3)HISTORICAL BACKGROUND •4)TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS •5)STATISTICS •6)SOCIAL COHESION •7)THESSALONIKI-THE FUTURE •ORGANIZATION OF THESSALONIKI (OR.TH.) GREECEGREECE ININ EUROPEEUROPE (TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS) POSITION OF GREECE IN THE SE EUROPE THE REGION OF CENRAL MACEDONIA (KENTRIKI MAKEDONIA) ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION Greece is divided into 52 Prefectures, which constitute the thirteen- (13) regions of our country. The population of Greece is 10.964.020 people (N.S.S.G. – 2001). The Region of Central Macedonia (EUROSTAT NUTS CODES: GR 12, NAME: KENTRIKI MAKEDONIA), has 1.710.513 inhabitants (N.S.S.G. 1991). The Region of Central Macedonia, comprise the “nomi” (or prefectures) of Thessaloniki, Imathia, Kilkis, Pella, Pieria, Serres and Chalkidiki. THESSALONIKI IN EUROPE POSITION •Greece is a country at the south – east of the European continent. It is the southeast part of the Balkan area and its main body constitutes an important peninsula into the Mediterranean Sea. •FYROM and Bulgaria bound the Region of Central Macedonia to the north, the region of Western Macedonia to the West, the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace to the east and the Aegean to the south. In demographic, economic and cultural terms it is Greece’s second most important center after Attica. the country. THESSALONIKI IN EUROPE POSITION •The regional capital is Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. The region is low-lying, and the Macedonian plain is one of the largest in Greece and exceptionally fertile. •Thessaloniki is the second largest city of Greece and is the capital of the Region of Central Macedonia. It is sited at the north part of Greece, approximately at the same distance from the eastern and western borders of THE PREFECTURE OF THESSALONIKI THESSALONIKI IN EUROPE GEOMORPHOLOGY-ENVIRONMENT THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE GEOMORPHOLOGY-ENVIRONMENT • The region of Central Macedonia is low-lying, and the Macedonian plain is one of the largest in Greece and exceptionally fertile. • The combination of green plains, wooded mountains, clear rivers, extensive coastline and archaeological and historic monuments lend a variety to the landscape. The region has a satisfactory communications network, and has extensive road and rail links with the rest of Greece and Europe. Thessaloniki also has Greece’s second largest international airport and the country’s second port. THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE GEOMORPHOLOGY-ENVIRONMENT • In and around the Thessaloniki conurbation there is a concentration of population and economic activities, particularly in the fields of manufacturing, commerce and culture. • In the western parts of Central Macedonia agricultural production predominates, and manufacturing activities are closely linked to agriculture. THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE GEOMORPHOLOGY-ENVIRONMENT • Tourist development is centered largely on Chalkidiki, whose natural beauty has made it the region’s summer resort. However, the environment has suffered because of the unchecked tourist development. Land prices and the cost of living have both increased. • Central and northeastern Chalkidiki is an area of intensive quarrying activity. However, there is little development potential in this sector. THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE GEOMORPHOLOGY-ENVIRONMENT • The environment of Central Macedonia is one of many contrasts. Within the same region the environmentally polluted area of Thessaloniki and the Gulf of Thermaikos, coexist with the scenic beauty of Chalkidiki and Mound Athos, the waterfalls at Edessa and Naousa and three internationally significant wetland areas. • The city of Thessaloniki and the area around it are beset with severe pollution problems. The death of the Gulf of Thermaikos, the atmospheric pollution, THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE GEOMORPHOLOGY-ENVIRONMENT • the major problem of urban and industrial waste and noise pollution are the most obvious signs of damage to the region’s environment. • The mouths of the Axios, the Aliakmonas and the Loudias rivers, together with the Volvi, Koronia and Kerkini lakes, make up northern Greece’s chain of ecologically important biotopes, protected under the Ramsar Convention. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Central Macedonia is the land of Philip and Alexander the Great, with great historical and cultural richness. It is home to the self govern monastic republic of Athos (or the Holy Mountain), with its inestimable orthodox heritage. Its geographical and strategic position has made it a crossroad for trade with the Balkan countries and Eastern Europe. Thessaloniki is the capital of Macedonia and second largest city of Greece. It was first established in 316 BC by Kassandros and named after his wife, Thessaloniki, sister of Alexander the Great. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND It is here that Paul, the Apostle of Nations, first brought the message of Christianity (50 AD) and that Demetrius, a Roman Officer died in martyrdom, thus becoming forever the holy patron of the city (303 AD). Thessaloniki becomes the second important city of the Byzantine Empire, next to Konstantinople, ornamented with numerous majesticand glamorous architectural works that display all forms of Byzantine art. After this illustrious era, the enemies take over. But each time, after every catastrophe, Thessaloniki reexalts in splendour, dressed in eternal garment of ancient and Byzantine glory. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Today, Thessaloniki with its University and the International Trade Fair – a crossroad for peoples’ friendship and collaboration – is a lively modern city bustling with life and movement. THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS • International Airport linked to many important cities in Europe, to Athens and to many other cities of Greece. • Rail services and links with Athens, Cities of Macedonia and Thrace, Central and Western Europe (through FYROM), Eastern Europe (through Bulgaria) , Near East (through Turkey). • Coach services by KTEL to all the big cities of Greece • Sea connections with the islands Lemnos, Lesvos, Chios (all year around) and summer connections with Sporades, Dodecanese, Cyclades. • No subway yet Thessaloniki as a node of the transport network The problems of the incoherent connection of the metropolitan areas as well as the resulting insufficient regional development of Greece were points of interest for governments and policy makers for decades. Many major transport infrastructure inefficiencies and dysfunctions of Greece dealt for decades basically with the lacking of a fully explored and systematically applied multimodal transport syetem. Of course, urban traffic congestion as a part of a larger transportation problem in cities is regarded as a major issue in European metropolitan areas. It appears as a basic urban trip-making inefficiency, difficulties in pedestrian mobility, environmental degradation, traffic accidents, more fuel expenditures, time delays, lacking of ‘valuable’ parking spaces and poor quality of service offered by the public transport systems. Thessaloniki as a node of the transport network Egnatia Motorway along with the Patras-Athens- Thessaloniki-Evzoni expressway serves to be the largest and most important public infrastructure projects for the regional development of Greece. The port of Thessaloniki is a basic node of the transportation system of the area. These systems will automatically form a combined transport system to enhance Thessaloniki’s position in the SE mediterranean basin. Investments such as the above are designed to improve the infrastructure of transport and transport access both for the Greek part of the corridor as well as for improving the intermodality of the basic terminal nodes, i.e. Thessaloniki, Kozani, Kavala and Alexandroupolis. Other types of investments such as projects in port, airport and railway infrastructure (both in capacity and equipment) are equally important for the terminal nodes. THESSALONIKITHESSALONIKI ININ EUROPEEUROPE TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS STATISTICSSTATISTICS (POPULATION) • The population of Greece is 10.964.020 people • The region of Central Macedonia has 1.710.513 inhabitants • The Perfecture of Thessaloniki has 1.057.825 inhabitants • The Metropolitan area of Thessaloniki has 981.963 inhabitants • The population of Central Macedonia grew by 23% between 1951 and 1971 due to internal migration • Recently a great number of emigrants are coming to this area from the countries of the FSU, from Albania, from the CEEC but also from the Pakistan, Turkey etc. SOCIALSOCIAL COHESIONCOHESION • The city of Thessaloniki, with a history spanning more than twenty-three centuries of continuous progress and evolution, is the model of a multi- cultural and all-embracing urban entity, which has survived and developed across the centuries thanks to the ability of its population to transform, to absorb and to exploit each successive set of conditions: social cohesion, economy, culture, security, etc. • As time marched