The Environment in the City 131
rivulets provincial roads and gullies communal roads; storms have
taken up the work of the engineers who build bridges, and the rain,
unsupervised, maintains the roads with heavy and light traffic.
The morphology of Attica’s land and important natural springs helped
to create a large number of streams, of which no more than 10% (70 out
of 700) can be identified today. The fertile land near streams has attracted
human settlements since ancient times. Streams and rivers were believed to
be sacred sites and many sanctuaries have been found along their courses.
They were areas for peaceful strolls and recreation. Plato refers to the beauty
of the landscape around the Ilissus, where Socrates discussed philosophy
with his disciples.
Until around the first quarter of the 19th century, the banks of Attica’s
streams and rivers retained their character as natural landscapes and recreation areas for the inhabitants of the city. The landscape had not been
altered to any great extent and one of its important features was a dense
network of streams. Today traces of the old streams can be seen under the
broadest roads, especially those divided by a median, which is usually a
sign of a culverted stream. However, it is very difficult to trace the entire
course of a stream, because streams have been built over along much of
their length or have been arranged to form part of the network of subterranean sewer pipelines or part of the road network at ground level. Thus their
function as natural spaces and their aesthetic value as natural landscapes
have been lost.
In the densely built fabric of the city, where no provision has been made
for increased vehicle traffic, even today streams that remain open rather
than built over are an inducement to construct new roads, since they are
rare linear corridors wide enough to offer great promise as thoroughfares.
Thus various types of modifications can be seen, from streams that are completely culverted and given over to traffic to those that have been restricted
to a narrow streambed and whose banks are used for traffic. Road corridors follow the courses of the larger streams, whereas the smaller ones have
been lost under the urbanized area. When flooding occurs, the unavoidable
consequences result.
As regards the periurban space, human interventions have helped destroy
the geomorphological character of the basins of streams, woodland flora and
fauna, and the natural quality of the areas around streams. Over-grazing,
clearing of land, fires, haphazard expansion of quarries and mines, road network which lacks engineering works, use of rubble to fill slopes in order to
create building plots: all these things have resulted in increased drainage into
built-up spaces. Flood protection works are seldom carried out where they
are most needed, i.e. in the part of the periurban space that is farthest upland.
They focus mainly on flood protection, through various interventions mainly
in the lowland parts of stream courses. Even when streams remain open,
rivulets provincial roads and gullies communal roads; storms have
taken up the work of the engineers who build bridges, and the rain,
unsupervised, maintains the roads with heavy and light traffic.
The morphology of Attica’s land and important natural springs helped
to create a large number of streams, of which no more than 10% (70 out
of 700) can be identified today. The fertile land near streams has attracted
human settlements since ancient times. Streams and rivers were believed to
be sacred sites and many sanctuaries have been found along their courses.
They were areas for peaceful strolls and recreation. Plato refers to the beauty
of the landscape around the Ilissus, where Socrates discussed philosophy
with his disciples.
Until around the first quarter of the 19th century, the banks of Attica’s
streams and rivers retained their character as natural landscapes and recreation areas for the inhabitants of the city. The landscape had not been
altered to any great extent and one of its important features was a dense
network of streams. Today traces of the old streams can be seen under the
broadest roads, especially those divided by a median, which is usually a
sign of a culverted stream. However, it is very difficult to trace the entire
course of a stream, because streams have been built over along much of
their length or have been arranged to form part of the network of subterranean sewer pipelines or part of the road network at ground level. Thus their
function as natural spaces and their aesthetic value as natural landscapes
have been lost.
In the densely built fabric of the city, where no provision has been made
for increased vehicle traffic, even today streams that remain open rather
than built over are an inducement to construct new roads, since they are
rare linear corridors wide enough to offer great promise as thoroughfares.
Thus various types of modifications can be seen, from streams that are completely culverted and given over to traffic to those that have been restricted
to a narrow streambed and whose banks are used for traffic. Road corridors follow the courses of the larger streams, whereas the smaller ones have
been lost under the urbanized area. When flooding occurs, the unavoidable
consequences result.
As regards the periurban space, human interventions have helped destroy
the geomorphological character of the basins of streams, woodland flora and
fauna, and the natural quality of the areas around streams. Over-grazing,
clearing of land, fires, haphazard expansion of quarries and mines, road network which lacks engineering works, use of rubble to fill slopes in order to
create building plots: all these things have resulted in increased drainage into
built-up spaces. Flood protection works are seldom carried out where they
are most needed, i.e. in the part of the periurban space that is farthest upland.
They focus mainly on flood protection, through various interventions mainly
in the lowland parts of stream courses. Even when streams remain open,