The 620 H. site which includes the former airport of Hellinikon and the Agios Kosmas beachfront area in Athens constitutes the peak of the privatization program that is currently underway in Greece.
The decision to relocate the Athens international airport from Hellinikon to its present position in Spata was taken in 1991 and a short while later was declared that the site would be designated as a ‘metropolitan green zone’. Since then the central government proved unwilling to create a park on the site, while the demand for a metropolitan park rallied substantial support from the local community, political parties, environmental organizations, research centers and urban movements. The outbreak of the crisis lead to the redefinition of central government’s priorities, set the privatization of Hellinikon as a primary goal and formulated a regulatory framework for its intensive development.
The “Citizens’ committee for the Metropolitan Park of Hellinikon” was launched in 2011 by citizens from all over Athens. The main goal of the committee is to oppose to the privatization of the site and promote the creation of a public metropolitan park. Up to now, the committee, in cooperation with local authorities, urban movements and local associations, has taken several initiatives and has organized several sport, cultural and environmental activities that have a dual aim: claiming and at the same time creating gradually the Metropolitan Park of Hellinikon.
Crisis regimes and emerging social movements 