Use of natural spaces in Athens- some research results

The scope of the study presented briefly in this paper is to describe the use of urban natural spaces in a large European city such as Athens in order to reveal the characteristics of the contemporary tie of its inhabitants with those spaces. Although Athens has a very low proportion of green areas per inhabitant, its geo-morphology (extensive coastal areas, hilly open spaces, surrounding mountains) is of central importance in the profound connection of those inhabitants to the history and the space of the city. The investigation studies the effective uses of natural spaces generated by people in the daily rhythm of collective Athenian life. To this purpose, complementary methods have been applied to face the different aspects of this concern. Analysis of statistical data has provided a geographical and social view for the selection of a range of case study sites. Extensive field surveys combined with qualitative study have been carried out in order to obtain information as regards the categories of users, their activities in the selected open spaces related to the tie of Athenians to their natural environment over the last few decades and to the actual changes that have arisen from the empirical findings. The research results characterizing the relationship of the use of natural spaces and the way of life in the city of Athens has be presented in the current contribution.