Mapping a changing city

A new project for Thessaloniki with unique features starts its operation and is launched through the event "Mapping a changing city", on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 18:30, at the "Xanthippi Heupel" Amphitheatre of the MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art (inside Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre-Helexpo).

The project: The Thessaloniki Social Atlas is an open online "encyclopedia" on topics related to urban space and the anthropogeography of Thessaloniki. It is a dynamic digital platform containing texts, maps, photos and diagrams for the whole city, from the neighbourhoods to the wider urban complex and the surrounding area. The Thessaloniki Social Atlas will contribute to the production of new knowledge about the city through the systematic organization and presentation of documented material, while sharing this knowledge with both the specialized and the wider public in an accessible and inclusive way. In the years to come it aspires to become a reliable source of authoritative information, a valuable basis for informing citizens and a contribution to the decision-making process and policy-making for the city. 

The event: The event will start with the official presentation of the Thessaloniki Social Atlas and an indicative navigation on its platform by Loukas Triantis, assistant professor at the Department of Architecture of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and member of the scientific team that curates the project. Stavros Spyrellis, researcher of the National Centre for Social Research, will refer to the international network of similar Atlases, Atlas Global Network. This will be followed by a discussion with a diverse panel: Stelios Angeloudis, Mayor of Thessaloniki, will talk about the possible use of Atlas data in policy making; Thomas Maloutas, Professor Emeritus of Harokopio University, will refer to the experience of the similar project in Athens and other European cities; journalist Myrto Toula will present the perspective of a new generation that wishes but does not always manage to live and create in the city; Anastasia Hamalidou, representative of the Vardari Neighbourhood Group and reintegration officer of the Thessaloniki Self-Help Promotion Programme, will try to imagine the uses of the Atlas by civil society. The other two members of the scientific team, the director of the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Regional Development of the Department of Architecture, Associate Professor Haris Christodoulou, and Evi Athanasiou, Professor at the Department of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, will moderate the discussion. After the discussion, there will be an opportunity for networking, meeting and discussion with the staff of the Thessaloniki Social Atlas, the members of the editorial board and its authors.

The stakeholders: The Thessaloniki Social Atlas is a project of the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Regional Development of the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The scientific partner is the National Centre for Social Research. The implementation of the project is supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation - Thessaloniki Office.

The event is organized by the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Regional Development of the Department of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Heinrich Böll Foundation - Thessaloniki Office, in collaboration with the MOMus-Museum of Contemporary Art.