In Greece, one word sums up quite a lot: «tsimedoùpoli». This is the nickname that the Greeks give to Athens, their capital, and it means the «concrete city». One way to sum up in one word the high density of dwellings and the lack of green spaces that characterize the Greek capital, explains our correspondent in Athens, Joël Bronner.
According to Eurostat data published on 21 July 2023, the centre of Athens is the second most densely populated capital of Europe, just after Paris. So with the concrete, the asphalt, the air conditioners that are running at full capacity in old apartments – which are often what we call today «thermal sieves» and in which it is very hot in the summer -, a city like Athens becomes a real heat island.
Temperatures will approach 45°C
A characteristic that will be sorely felt by the 650,000 or so inhabitants of the capital, while this weekend «may be the hottest recorded in July during the last 50 years», warns a meteorologist of the public television channel ERT. Friday 21 July 2023 temperatures around 45°C were recorded in the country.
Usually, in the city, green spaces help to reduce some of the temperatures, but in Athens, there are few: just over 10% of the city’s surface is covered by trees. Some projects, such as the creation of “green corridors” across the city, should eventually improve things a bit. But so far, political priorities seem more focused on investment and construction than on the rapid establishment of additional green spaces.
