Heritage of the ordinary: an alternative view

Abstract

This thesis explored urban strategies for harnessing diverse types of cultural heritage of the ordinary urban environment in order to achieve sustainable urban development. During the past century, urban expansions took place without any special regard towards existing cultural heritage expressions. Despite the significant role of heritage in shaping societal cultural identities and the extensive space that occupies within the built space, it is not taken into consideration in strategic planning. As a result, a great amount of cultural heritage remains unrecognized and ignored. Meanwhile, the urban transformations have been immense and largely unsustainable, in ways that consumed the natural environment and endangered the future development of the city. The aim of this research and design project was to highlight the latent potential of cultural heritage as a driver of urban redevelopments focused on sustainability. To explore this argument, the project took as case study the periphery of Piraeus in Athens metropolitan area, Greece and examined the relevant concepts and proposals at the metropolitan and local scale. The process of research, analysis and design was a continuous dialogue between two basic lines of narrative, namely the cultural heritage and the sustainable urban development. The research and design process employed various methods, according to the needs and challenges of each topic. The findings led to the elaboration of a strategy for the periphery of Piraeus comprising guiding principles, design solutions at the local scale and governance arrangements. The final structural and design proposals included: i) the recommendation of a new definition and a two-level system of official designation of cultural heritage elements; ii) a set of guiding principles for sustainable urban development at the metropolitan scale; iii) a design solution for Apollon neighbourhood, which acted as a showcase of the principles’ applicability; iv) the development of a national inventory and the implementation of pilot projects, as counteraction to the governance challenges.