Author(s)

R. MITOULA, H. THEODOROPOULOU, D. KARNABOS & K. APOSTOLOPOULOS

Abstract

The present paper investigates the input of a Local Administration Organisation (LAO) of the urban Municipality of Kallithea to its sustainable physiognomy. The investigation takes place in a period when global and, in particular, European interest for the protection and the elevation of the physiognomy of cities is particularly intense. Through the phenomenon of globalisation and international uniformity, cities today are characterised by the absence of identity and local particularity. The protection and elevation of the physiognomy of a city does not only concern the aesthetic field, but the total perception that a resident or visitor creates. This may be achieved through the combination of actions and more generally on a multi-level basis, so much in sectors such as city planning, circulation, energy, social and financial structures in the city, as with interventions on the culture and the protection of the environment. When people mention the environment, they are not speaking only of the natural environment, but also of the cultural, social and financial environment; they are essentially speaking of sustainable development of cities. Local administration today can play a large correctional and protective role. It can be a determining factor in the creation of a sustainable urban environment, in the protection and elevation of the physiognomy of cities, as it is the institution that is closest to citizens. This can be put into effect with the embodiment of local environmental policies within financial and social policies. At the same time, by training and motivating citizens towards the promotion of sustainable development, by projecting models of cooperation between state, private and social bodies, the municipality can direct the urban societies towards the protection of the physiognomy of their cities.

Keywords

cities, municipalities, cities’ sustainable physiognomy