ΜΕΤΑΠΟΛΕΜΙΚΗ ΑΣΤΙΚΗ ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗ ΚΑΙ ΟΝΟΜΑΤΟΘΕΣΙΑ ΟΔΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΠΛΑΤΕΙΩΝ Ο ΔΗΜΟΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΩΝ (1945-1974)

Abstract

This paper focuses on street naming in the Municipality of Athens between 1945 and 1974. My main aim is to underline the relation between street naming practices and the unprecedented urbanization and reconstruction of the Greek capital. Acknowledging the fact that street names have both a symbolic and a practical function this paper highlights how they operate as commemoration signs, tools of spatial orientation and mediums of administrative control and regulation. Therefore my intention is to explore the dialogue and interaction between memory, urban space and power within the transformative setting of postwar Athens, a city marked by recent experiences of war, destruction and civil strife. In order to do so this paper studies municipal archives (meeting minutes of city’s council) and the circulars issued by the Ministry of Interior. These sources reflect how central and local authorities exerted their power and attempted to regulate and control the symbolic as well as the built environment of Athens in times of rapid urban transformation.