Domna Michailidou: A Riviera for the City and its People
The Athens Riviera is not just a major regeneration project or a new tourist destination. It is social infrastructure. A project that returns the sea to the everyday life of the city and its people.
- 30/09/2026 16:34
Piraeus is a city focused on the sea. The sea is in its history, in its economy, in the jobs and in the memories of its people. It is one of the basic elements with which we, the residents of Piraeus, describe our city.
However, there is a paradox. The sea is next to us, but the city’s relationship with it has remained fragmented. To date, no continuous, safe and free public space has been formed where someone can walk, exercise, rest or spend time with their family. For Piraeus, the sea has been mainly associated with the port and economic activity, but not –at least, not to the same extent- with a unified public space of everyday life.
This is precisely the paradox that lies in the social dimension of the regeneration of the coastal front. The value of such a project is not assessed exclusively by the size of the investment, the economic development that it promises or the image that the new coastline will acquire. It is assessed mainly on the basis of the improvement of people’s daily lives, by the opening of public space to more citizens and, ultimately, by the strengthening of social cohesion.
A high-quality public space reduces barriers. It provides more opportunities to the citizens to participate in the life of the city for free. It may not in itself eliminate social inequalities, but it makes life less dependent on income, age, or the neighborhood in which one lives.
The Athens Riviera is not just a large regeneration project or a new tourist destination. It is social infrastructure. A project that returns the sea to the everyday life of the city and its people. That is why its social value will depend mainly on the way in which it will operate – on whether it will become a place that will be truly accessible to all. A place for meeting and coexistence of people from different generations, with different social backgrounds, interests and lifestyles.
This is the real challenge for our city: that the new Riviera will be not only an upgraded place, but also a common place. A place that will not only serve different needs, but also enable different people to share the same city.
The Athens Riviera is, of course, a project of great economic significance. It creates investments, new activities and jobs. It upgrades Attica and strengthens its international position. Its social dimension, however, is not a complementary benefit added at the end. It is an equal part of the value of the project and a necessary condition for its success.
A great project succeeds in practice when development reaches the lives of citizens. When investments, jobs and economic indicators are translated into tangible benefits for society. When the residents of Piraeus do not remain spectators of change, but participate in its benefits: in better jobs, in open public space with access to the sea, and in a better everyday life for their families.
The success of the Athens Riviera will, therefore, be judged both by the economic potential that it will unleash and by the social value that it will provide. Because the benefits of development acquire real meaning when they reach everyone.
Published in “White Paper: The Greater Riviera”, NouPou Media’s special edition spotlighting the future of coastal Attica.