Greece is turning an abandoned airport into an $8 billion smart city. Take a look at Ellinikon.
The developers of Ellinikon call it Europe's largest urban regeneration project. Some fear it will become a mini-Dubai on the Aegean Sea.
Lamda Development
- Greece is building what's billed as Europe's largest and greenest smart city close to Athens.
- Ellinikon's developers say they're trying to construct a "zip-code paradise."
- At the center of the project is the Riviera Tower, set to become Greece's first skyscraper.
Greece is building Europe's largest and greenest smart city in an $8 billion project that's been more than a decade in the making.
Located on the site of a former Athens airport, Ellinikon is set to feature Greece's first skyscraper, a high-end mall, and a sports park.
Its developers told Business Insider they're trying to construct a "zip-code paradise" that merges scenic coastline views with tech-savvy and eco-friendly infrastructure. They're estimating that the project's first phase, which is expected to be completed by 2026, will attract a million new tourists and boost the Greek economy by 3.3 billion euros ($3.6 billion).
Ellinikon is one of several high-tech new cities being built across the world — although they're typically in China or the Middle East rather than Europe.
Check out these designs for the project.
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The smart city gets its name from the disused Ellinikon International Airport 4 miles south of Athens, which closed in 2001. Construction was initially supposed to start in 2008 but was significantly delayed by the global financial crisis that left the Greek economy on the brink of collapse.
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Work on the project, which developers describe as Europe's biggest urban regeneration project, finally began in July 2020.
Its developers are touting Ellinikon's stunning views of the Aegean Sea. They've made regenerating the two-mile coastal front a priority.
Lamda Development
Construction started last year on the Cove Residences, a set of luxury villas. Lamda Development, named as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential companies, says it's already sold 350 coastal-front properties and recently revealed plans to start work on another site called Little Athens, which will have another 1,115 residential units.
Lamda Development
The idea of opening a metropolitan park on the site of the abandoned airport has been in the works since 2005. The site is 650 acres, a similar size to Alley Pond Park in Queens, New York City.
Lamda Development
Developers have described the Riviera Tower, which is under construction and will have 180 apartments across 50 floors, as the "crown jewel" of the Ellinikon. At about 650 feet it will be Greece's tallest building and first skyscraper when completed.
Lamda Development
The smart city's experience center, which opened in 2022, is a restoration of one of the abandoned airport's original hangars. It aims to celebrate the site's history and showcase some of the eco-friendly tech that the site's founders believe will be central to the cities of the future.
Lamda Development
Lamda and other contractors have made building the Riviera Galleria, a high-end shopping district that sits next to the Riviera Tower, another priority. The site will be home to 70 leading fashion brands, according to Retail Insight Network.
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Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited Ellinikon earlier this year to mark the opening of Lamda's first completed building, a center for disabled people. He's made boosting Greece's economy one of his main priorities as prime minister.
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Lamda CEO Odisseas Athanasiou has previously said that Ellinikon is "putting Greece on the map for the right reason" — but not all Athenians agree. Some locals fear the project will turn Athens into a "mini-Dubai" full of mega-yachts and casinos, while others have complained about the destruction of historic buildings linked to the old airport.