Athens vs. Hong Kong | Urban Sprawl vs. High Density

Having visited Hong Kong and having done preliminary analysis of the rooftop slum conditions in Sham Shui Po, I started to think about our next studio destination: Athens. What would I be able to compare in the two cities? Would I even be able to compare them? The two cities economically are distinctly different with Athens on the verge of collapse and Hong Kong only booming more and more by the day. Physically, they can be considered polar opposites: Athens sprawls out into an endless landscape horizontally while Hong Kong soars upwards into the sky vertically. But even in these distinctly different cities, similarities can be found. The social and demographic issues that arise in Hong Kong, became evident once again in Athens.

Both cities have issues with slum conditions. In Athens, this can be seen in the rooftop slums of Gerani as well as the refugee village in Ambelokipi. I chose to focus on the conditions at the refugee village as a comparative analysis to the character of slum conditions I had been finding in Hong Kong.

The area of the refugee village exists as a series of urban block forms built up but abandoned. As the government waits to decide what to do, people seeking homes have come in and made illegal dwellings in these blocks. Some are privately-owned, and others quietly taken over by small communities. From the exterior, the structures appear like dilapidated blocks. The image is one of complete destruction with the outer core punctured by bullet holes from air raids, window shutters hanging crookedly as if to be falling off the structure, and windows boarded up with wooden slats. But when you get on the inside, you enter a whole new world: a city within the city.

As we enter the building, the stairwells smell of piss and you can hear people consciously locking their doors as you climb higher and higher. Wires hang down the central atrium of the stairwell to supply electricity and water to each dwelling unit. It looks like a complete slum. But as you get the chance to see one from the inside you see something different. The spaces can be considered real apartments and are completely refurbished by the owners. The rooms are minimally furnished, but it is definitely a manageable size room with a full plan layout. Unlike the slums in Hong Kong, here people had plenty of space to live.