Vol.1, No 4, 1997 pp. 493 - 507
UDC: 711.523"19" THESSALONIKI (045)

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A MEDITERRANEAN CITY IN TRANSITION: THESSALONIKI BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS
Hastaoglou-Martinidis Vilma
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54006, Greece

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Abstract. Thessaloniki, second city of Greece with one million inhabitants, owes its present form to an extraordinary sequence of events -fire and war- which restructured the city. The fire of 1917 burnt the central area and precipitated a vast reconstruction effort. While rebuilding was underway Thessaloniki was inundated by refugees of the Asia Minor war in 1922. This article presents the governmental policies employed to confront these twin dilemmas, and illustrates how through these from a basically pre-industrial city with an oriental appearance and a cosmopolitan character, Thessaloniki was transformed into a modern regional metropolis. The new European plan superimposed over the old traditional city helped to foster the image of greater homogeneity while actually causing greater class stratification; physical remodelling of the city can produce serious social changes while occurring in a specific historical juncture; and even when a plan is in existence, catastrophes sometimes force the adoption of ad hoc solutions. These ad hoc working solutions can become exemplars for planning, and that is what happened to Thessaloniki.

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MEDITERANSKI GRAD U TRANZICIJI: SOLUN IZMEĐU DVA SVETSKA RATA Solun, sa svojih milion stanovnika drugi po veličini grad u Grčkoj, svoj sadašnji izgled duguje izuzetnom sticaju okolnosti - požaru i ratu - koji su restruktuirali grad. Veliki požar iz 1917. godine uništio je centralni deo grada i prouzrokovao obimnu rekonstrukciju. Dok je rekonstrukcija bila u toku, Solun je bio preplavljen izbeglicama iz Male Azije zahvaćene ratom 1922. godine. U ovom članku opisana je politika tadašnjih vlasti u naporima da suoče ova dva problema, i ilustrovan je način na koji je Solun, od uglavnom pre-industrijskog grada sa orijentalnim izgledom i kosmopolitskim karakterom, transformisan u modernu regionalnu metropolu. Novi evropski plan, nametnut starom tradicionalnom gradu, pomogao je da se stvori izgled veće homogenosti, dok je u suštini izazvao još veće klasno raslojavanje; fizičko remodeliranje grada može dovesti do ozbiljnih socijalnih promena ako se dogodi u specifičnom istorijskom spletu okolnosti; čak i dok je plan u toku realizacije, katastrofe ponekad mogu da dovedu do usvajanja izvesnih ad-hok rešenja. Takva trenutna rešenja mogu postati pravi primeri za planiranje, a upravo se to i dogodilo u Solunu.