Culture and People: This is Athens!
At the beginning of 2018, while studying Cultural Management at Panteion University, one of our graduate courses got us thinking about cities. Under the lead of Professor Betty Tsakarestou, who is the project initiator of the Athens Co-Creation City Branding Project, we started discussing ways to make our city more sustainable, smart, open and better for the people that inhabit it.
Our team (Karolina A. Mackiewicz, Maximos S. Theo. and Ioanna Kakalidi) was challenged to study cities around the globe in order to understand what it is we as cultural managers can do to create a better future for the city we live in.
We case-studied the Global YouthfulCity Index, we evaluated Athens for its strengths and potential and we got in touch with two initiatives in the city and learned about the ways they re-brand and co-create Athens (Impact Hub, Serafio).
Finally, we put all that together and created a city canvas in order to understand where our city stands and where it is headed to. This article is about our work towards creating the value proposition for Athens and the ideas we think we should implement to make it a great city.
There is no doubt cities are taking the lead in terms of agency. With half the world’s population residing in urban environments[1], cities have become more dense, vibrant, diverse and authentic and, when empowered, they can tackle social and economic problems by creating smart solutions on their local level. This means combating income inequality and climate change, improving mobility, fostering openness and diversity, advancing in technology and more.
The city of today, and certainly the city of the future, becomes a hive that prospers thanks to a network of government, companies, universities, research institutes and others, that collaborate to strengthen it. Successful cities know that, but what about those still left behind? When discussing this kind of agency, we have to take into consideration the importance of planning, rebranding and co-creating cities and when talking about our own city we, as citizens and professionals, have to adopt the mindset of an active member of a huge organism that is the sum of its parts.
As Gerard H. puts it in the article “Cities lead, nations follow” — How and why cities are defining this century:
“First, they must be understood as collaborative networks formed by political leaders, corporations, civic associations, labor organisations and the community in general. Second, cities must set up a vision rooted in distinctiveness and searching to be a unique version of itself. Finally, cities must find their game changer. This factor can be one or a series of interventions that can change the city and make it compete inter-locally.”
All of the above make the case for a city creating its image by understanding and promoting its essence and uniqueness. As members of the Athens Co-Creation team we set to understand our city and used creative thinking to build a canvas of ideas about the future of our capital. Our mission was to answer the questions What is unique about Athens? What is the potential game changer for the city? What is the value it proposes? and, essentially: What is Athens?
A great amount of our research focused on city indexes as a tool for understanding what it is that successful cities look for and what they invest in. At the top characteristics we found safety, livability, innovation, creativity, environment, development and many cities excelled in one or more factors, making it a fierce international competition. Athens was nowhere to be found on those indexes and even though the scale is different for megacities like New York or Singapore, we thought our smaller city should also work towards getting ahead.
So our research went another direction: we looked for the key players of Athens and interviewed them in order to find out more about the city’s potential and dynamic. We prepared a list of questions for some of the biggest Athenian stakeholders in culture and urban planning and talked to them to learn more about their work and views on the things concerning our city. Their insights helped us better understand how professionals overcome obstacles and moved our project further in terms of understanding the mentality and reality we are dealing with.
First thing we learned was that the problem that chokes the Greek system as a whole is bureaucracy. We ourselves came across it while we were trying to plan our meetings with the stakeholders. The other problematic issue had to do with organizational structure: every time the mayor of the city, or the director of an organization or person in charge changes, there is a change in vision and strategy for the city as well. Lastly, an overwhelming inability to cooperate efficiently and a lack of network building logic was a problem many citizens/stakeholders face every day.
But despite all these, managers and change makers in Athens still recognize there is a lot of patience, willingness and hard work (sometimes to the detriment of one’s personal life). They mentioned that Athens has a cultural human capital that has fresh ideas, innovating plans for the future and creates development initiatives. People get things happening here, we just have to follow. That is why, many of them argue, a closer relationship with the municipality is essential in order to establish a citizen/government relationship based on feedback and co-creation values.
Projects like “Polis²” that provides small financial grants and development support to residents, professionals, formal and informal civil society groups to develop collaborative interventions in the city is one of the change makers we want to support. The idea is to create interactive spaces and transform the city into something new. Something that will be inspired not only by the beautiful weather, the fun and the people who are into city culture, but also by those who live its reality every day.
We also discovered how many organisations, festivals and projects promote the Greek art scene. Numerous artistic events take place in the city and theater or music lovers can find some happening to attend every day of the week. Despite the budget cuts due to the financial crisis, art is blooming in Athens and creative people continuously work to broaden the cultural landscape.
Perhaps, then, it’s time to stop saying that Athens is the new Berlin, and instead follow the lead of one Greek graffiti writer, who recently scrawled the following slogan in the city’s streets: “Athens is the new Athens”. Well said.[2]
By getting to know who the players in Athens are and by learning more about their views and methods of work, we too felt the need to create a plan for the city. We met and discussed the problems, needs and challenges, as well as the potential and the resources we have. Following the model of the value proposition canvas, we examined the city from the perspective of the citizen who wants a better life in Athens. We sat down with the knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of Athens and with the aspiration of turning them into the essential quality that defines it. We wondered What is the new Athens?
Our value proposition for the city became clear and lead us to the two distinctive things we know this city offers to anyone living and working in it or visiting it: Athens is a cultural and welcoming city. A city that embraces cultural creation and at the same time a community where everyone belongs and participates in all aspects of life.
Through citizen, newcomer and visitor-centered strategies that enhance cultural education and facilitate creative expression, Athens can become a global cultural center. Initiatives that encourage citizens’ creativity, such as “Polis2”, can embellish the degraded center or neighborhoods of the city and new events, such as international festivals, can promote entrepreneurship and prove beneficial for the economy.
But this city should be more than that. Its success will depend on its ability to create a welcoming community climate and foster social cohesion in a time when the number of immigrants and disadvantaged citizens in the capital grows. Designing and implementing policies that ensure the ongoing inclusion and economic, social, cultural and civic participation of all Athenians and newcomers in the city life is a challenge for every stakeholder of the Greek capital. Activities that offer access to education, cultural interaction and creative entrepreneurship to immigrant and other marginalized communities can create a sense of belonging, strengthen ties between natives and newcomers and ultimately reinforce a sense of pride in this city. Neighborhood councils empowerment, youth entrepreneurship opportunities, actions based on the promotion of cultural diversity, programs aiming at providing quality of life to age-sensitive groups, like children and senior citizens, can be listed as potential activities.
A welcoming city is also about attracting visitors. Athens certainly is a tourist destination, but how welcome do tourists really feel? To answer this question we have to consider some important factors, such as infrastructure, security and safety, as well as citizens’ mentality and openness to visitors, among others. The city’s entry points, namely its port and airport, should be an important part of the planning, as they make a first and lasting impression. Reliable, technologically advanced and eco- friendly transportation, as well as urban cleanliness are also crucial. The willingness of the citizens to host visitors and their sense of hospitality are equally important. Policies that aim at increasing citizens’ engagement and their active participation in city governance could have a positive effect on changing attitudes and eventually creating an “open city”.
All of the above are things our city has the potential to improve but it is necessary that these ideas become integral to being an Athenian. It is absolutely crucial to create a long-term strategic plan for the city, one that will incorporate what Athens is into what Athens is capable of being.
Essentially what we propose as the two things that could make Athens a city with a strong identity are culture and people. This is what a city that ancient offers and make no mistake, it isn’t obsolete, it’s timeless. Athens could be a part of the global cities network as the city where culture meets philosophy, meets contemporary art, meets theater, meets cinema, but what makes all of these even more “Athenian” is the people that always welcome, always befriend and always smile to you. Athens could be the city with the best philosophy university or the best ancient drama research school and, at the same time, be the place one visits to meet the most welcoming people.
In our understanding of what Athens is, we feel that a city historically perceived as a middle way between East and West needs to gain more self confidence and invest in the distinctive characteristics Greek people are already proud of: a rich cultural heritage and vibrant contemporary culture and the qualities of being welcoming and sharing experiences. This is Athens.
Writers: Karolina A. Mackiewicz, Maximos S. Theo. and Ioanna Kakalidi
[1] United Nations, 2014, World Urbanisation Prospects, http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf
[2] Sooke Alastair, “Can Athens become Europe’s new arts capital?, BBC Culture, 9 May 2017 (http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20170509-can-athens-become-europes-new-arts-capital)
