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Since the 1990s, sustainability agenda has dominated cities' efforts to improve their environment; has been elaborated in European Commission documents, has been disseminated and funded through different mechanisms. The paper examines the way urban sustainability has been framed in Thessaloniki's EU funded urban regeneration projects, focusing on projects that have been materialized or planned, since the outbreak of the financial crisis in Greece in 2010. It places emphasis on conceptual shifts in EU policies regarding sustainability and their reflection on specific urban projects. A critical light is shed on imaginaries pursued, and processes employed in these projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As current evolutions make the social economy increasingly visible and important, the paper examines the role of networking in social economy initiatives in strengthening their innovativeness capacities, and, thus, increasing their potential for societal transformation. Our analytical framework reflects the different clusters of networking relations within and outside social economy initiatives, as well as the roles of cognitive frames, skills and capacities, governance, activities, and funding under each of these networking clusters. This analysis is then applied in a particular social economy initiative, Cretamo, a consumers' cooperative operating a grocery store in Thessaloniki, Greece. The results indicate that Cretamo has developed in the central node of an eco-system of same-minded social enterprises in the agro-food sector, offering an alternative niche to the mainstream economic model. This has changed relations both within the initiative and in its networks, while, at the same time, allows for increased innovativeness capacities. Cretamo has not yet the power to challenge the existing mainstream regime. Yet, it offers a valid alternative niche, which, combined with the socio-economic crisis still experienced in Greece and expected to intensify in the future, creates strong potential for societal transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developed essentially in the context of American cities, the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) model has also occupied the literature regarding European cities, especially those with long developed urban rail systems. This paper provides a critical overview of the TOD model regarding three main topics: key features and typologies; benefits, drawbacks and implementation challenges; and readiness criteria. It then proceeds to an investigation of the potential for implementing the TOD model in the context of Southern European cities, traditionally considered to fall into typical compact forms of development, many of which also lack integrated urban and transport planning. Based on the case of Thessaloniki, Greece, which introduces urban rail by constructing a metro system, a typology is proposed, adapted to the case of a dense and mixed-use city, and two pilot TOD plans are presented. The paper highlights that an integrated urban and transport planning based on a modification of the TOD model could be implemented in Southern European cities, taking advantage of their compact and mixed-use features but also constraining the relatively recent phenomenon of suburban dispersion. Nevertheless, overcoming the multiple institutional and financing barriers is necessary to guarantee a successful transfer and adaptation of the TOD model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that contemporary sound in urban areas consists of a fragile equilibrium of sonic territories with high heterogeneity. Sound scenes in urban environments are studied using ecological sound tools, including soundscape ecology and acoustic ecology. This study proposes an interdisciplinary framework that combines quantitative and qualitative sonic and architectural data to analyse, describe and design sonic space. Five territories with distinctive sonic identities in the historic centre of Thessaloniki in Greece were selected and compared with their architectural characteristics. Though these characteristics of Thessaloniki are similar to other cities of Greece, the continuing transformation of urban sonic identities lends importance to this research. The analysis revealed unique information about the identity and urbanity of the territories, challenging the established noise–silence dichotomy and opening up new perspectives on an integrated sustainable urban design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on dream-experiences and dream-narratives as sites of creativity and agency. Through the ethnographic exploration of dreams recounted to me mainly by informants in Thessaloniki, Greece I will argue that dreams are means of making sense of the world in a relational and intersubjective manner, as well as instances of the human capacity to invent new forms and ëoriginal figurationsi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the complex issue of Albanian migrants' economic and social incorporation in a Greek city, Thessaloniki. The empirical base of the research is 30 in-depth interviews with Albanian migrants. Migrants' integration is seen in a dynamic perspective, which examines different contexts of incorporation: the policy framework, the labour market context, the socio-spatial environment, and the role of social networks. Exclusion and integration of migrants in the host country are seen as dynamic processes, which may be contradictory but operate in parallel. Incorporation thus becomes the process through which immigrants, despite structural and institutional obstacles, build their lives in the host society; it is strongly conditioned by time and it may also take place-specific characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My paper presents a contextualized reading of debates on the notion of progress in the women's journal Kadın published in Ottoman Salonica in 1908-1909. Aside from being one of the three women's journals that started publication in the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution, the importance of Kadın is connected to the fact that it was the only Ottoman women's journal published at the centre of the revolution. A close reading of Kadın reveals the complexities of debates on women's issues that took place at the time, and as such challenges some of the common assumptions regarding the subject in the field. It also shows how the word 'feminizim' (Turkish for feminism) functioned as a central signifier in these debates, denoting extremism at different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers discussed at a symposium entitled "Museology Towards the 21st Century-Theory and Practice" co-organized by the Department of History of Architecture, Architectural Morphology and Restoration of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece in November 21024, 1997 is presented. The event tackled issues on various contributions including museum theory, museum practice and Greek realities. Other topics for contemporary museums are also explored.

This article focuses upon the Jewish dockers of Ottoman Thessaloniki. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the loading and unloading of merchandise between ships and docks in the port of Thessaloniki was dominated by Jewish manpower. This dominance should be considered, first of all, in relation to the pre-industrial regulations of the Ottoman labour market. Work on the Thessaloniki docks was operated by veteran guilds of Jewish labourers (registered according to ethnic or family affinity) who managed to distribute all the specific spheres of work among themselves (the gedik principle). They demonstrated a high standard of professionalism (the hisba value) and created a well-organized welfare system. These outdated regulations still maintained their validity in spite of the legal abolition of the guild system (1860), and the emergence of the industrial labour market. The second reason for Jewish prosperity derived from the political turmoil of that period. Against the background of the Macedonian Question and the Western semi-colonization of Macedonia, the Jewish dockers should be seen as part of an ethnic group which clearly defined itself as supporting the preservation of the Ottoman regime in the Southern Balkans. As such, the Ottoman regime counted them as a loyal and useful element in maintaining its interests in the docks, and in exchange came to their aid when modernization of the infrastructures might have thrown many of them out of work in the port. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the restoration of democracy in 1974, Greek politics have undergone a serious transformation, exemplified by the increase in political participation that strongly affected political advertising at the national and local level. The major claim of the paper is that political campaigns in major cities in Greece are “modern” while in the periphery of the country political campaigning is based more upon direct forms of interpersonal relations. Our claim is based upon an examination of the role of political advertising in the major metropolitan city of Thessaloniki (around 1.000.000 inhabitants), and the semi-peripheral city of Kastoria (around 17.000 inhabitants), both situated in Northern Greece. The primary objective of this study is to establish a strong factual foundation that can be used by policy makers, opinion leaders, and citizens in order to understand the role of political advertising in national and municipal elections in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Ottoman Salonika was once home to the largest Sephardic Jewish community in the world. They were the undisputed masters in almost all sectors of the city's economy. The conquest of the city by Greece in 1912, however, deprived the Jews of the Turkish protection they had enjoyed for 482 years. During the war, the Jews had done what they could to resist the Greeks. During the two months following the entry of the Greek army into the city, the Greek population, backed up by the army, carried out pogroms against the Jews. Salonikan Jews were still pro-Turkish in 1913, and regretted the passing of the old order. In 1943 under German occupation more than 95 percent of the Jewish population at that time, were deported, 2,000–2,500, at a time in closed cars in nineteen convoys from Salonika to Auschwitz where they were gassed in extermination camps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The detection of asthma and rhinitis in furniture workers exposed to chemicals in the area of Thessaloniki Greece and the determination of the most useful tests for diagnosing the above occupational diseases. Methods: Eighty-three workers (76 men), 35 exposed to chemicals (CW), 23 to wood dust (WW), and 25 office workers (OW), serving as controls, filled in a specialized European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) questionnaire for asthma and were submitted to clinical evaluation, spirometry, bronchodilation test, PEF computer algorithm OASYS-2, FeNO, skin prick tests (SPTs), rhinomanometry and methacholine inhalation challenge. Working conditions and protective measurements were also recorded. According to the results of all conducted tests, each subject was distributed to a subgroup: (a) normal, (b) asthma, (c) rhinitis, (d) asthma and rhinitis. Comparisons were performed among work groups. Results: The presence of asthma and/or rhinitis was higher among CW and WW compared to OW (p = 0.004). Significant differences among groups were observed in the questions «better weekend» (p < 0.034) and "improvement on vacation» (p < 0.000), in OASYS-2 Score (p < 0.000), in ABC Score (p < 0.000), and in methacholine score (p < 0.022). Rhinomanometry, FeNO, spirometry, and spirometry after bronchodilation had no significant differences among groups. Working conditions, ventilation system, work practice, use and type of mask revealed no significant differences. Conclusion: Asthma and rhinitis are significantly common among CW. Protective measurements used were not adequate to prevent asthma and or work related rhinitis. Early diagnosis might contribute to disease prevention and control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remittances stand at the heart of the migration-development debate. However, they are overwhelmingly considered in financial and economic terms, neglecting important dimensions, such as gender and patriarchal family structures. This article contributes to rectifying this oversight by analyzing flows of remittances resulting from Albanian migration to neighboring Greece. We draw on a detailed questionnaire survey with 350 remittance-recipient households in rural southeast Albania and 45 in-depth interviews with a selection of these respondents and with remitters living in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. We found that gender is interlinked with generation and life-course stages within the context of Albanian patriarchal norms and that remittances are shaped accordingly. Although remitting to older parents is a filial duty for unmarried sons, upon marriage only the youngest son has this responsibility-other sons send small amounts as tokens of respect and love. Sending remittances is overwhelmingly seen as a 'male thing.' Single young women rarely migrate on their own for work abroad. Meanwhile any remittances sent by married daughters to their parents are considered 'unofficial,' referred to as 'coffee money.' Within nuclear households, some increased power-sharing among husband remitters and wife recipients takes place. However, the latter are far from passive recipients, since they struggle to combine caring for children and the elderly with farmwork or day labor. We conclude that a deeper understanding of how remittances are gendered can be gained by placing their analysis within the migratory and sociocultural context into which they are embedded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial activities are sources of high emission rates of particulate matter. The existence of many such industrial plants close to a densely populated area can have a severe effect on human health. The effects can be even worse when these emissions are added to existing background concentration levels. This study deals with the assessment of the primary particulate matter pollution caused by industrial activities close to the city of Thessaloniki in Greece. An atmospheric dispersion and regulatory model was employed, i.e. AERMOD from the US Environmental Pollution Agency. A new PM10 emission sources inventory was prepared for the main industrial plants of the area and the annual and monthly average concentrations from 2003 to 2007 were calculated. The results from AERMOD were validated against data from available monitoring stations and showed reasonably good agreement. It was estimated that industry contributes approximately 30% of primary PM10 on the western suburbs of the city and about 7% in the city centre. The effect of the wind direction was also studied and it was illustrated that the frequent southwest winds present higher concentration levels than the strong north ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2000, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) provided for the first time a global high-quality digital elevation model (DEM) at resolution levels of one and three arcseconds, using single-pass synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry. In January and February 2008, an extensive four-day kinematic global positioning system (GPS) (KGPS) campaign was carried out in the vicinity of the city of Thessaloniki (North Greece), during which more than 60 000 points were collected, providing an unprecedented density of measurements in the order of 20 points km-2. The purpose of the present study was to assess the vertical accuracy of the four versions of SRTM 3'' DEMs that are currently available over the Internet for public use, on the basis of the KGPS data collected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the Jewish community in the economic and cultural history of Salonica (Thessaloniki), Greece, from the time of Ottoman rule into the 20th century. The city's history as an important center of commerce and multiculturalism is discussed, including the migration of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews to the city starting in the late 15th century. The impact of Jewish entrepreneurship in the areas of trade, publishing, education, industry, and politics starting in the 19th century are then discussed.

This article aims at developing the tools and strategy for assessing the dynamic and seismic performance of the Byzantine Walls (the Walls) of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, to estimate the seismic history of the city as a whole. The particular Walls were constructed at the end of the fourth century ad in the reign of Theodosius the Great. As such, their structural integrity and record of damage reflects to a certain degree the level of seismic forces that has developed during the centuries. Moreover, the fact that the Walls are extending in kilometers within the civil grid of the modern city allows the study of the role played by the local soil conditions for a given earthquake scenario. It is worth noting that despite their relatively simple structural system, their foreseen seismic behavior as a three-dimensional body has not been thoroughly studied so far, primarily due to the lack of efficient numerical tools and the high computational related cost, especially towards the study of their response in the time domain. Along these lines, a refined dynamic analysis approach is proposed and the structural performance of particular parts of the Walls complex is examined for a number of realistic earthquake scenarios, accounting for the site-specific soil conditions, the spatially variable nature of the incident seismic waves, as well as the overall geotechnical/geotectonic environment of the area. Through this advanced simulation scheme, an upper bound of the historical level of seismic forces for the city of Thessaloniki is traced (through back analysis), while the overall refined approach can be also used as a guide for the direct assessment of the existing seismic capacity of monuments as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russian archives constitute an untapped reservoir of materials concerning nineteenth-century Thessaloniki. Russian interests in the port and region ranged over a variety of topics, including safeguarding Black Sea commerce and protecting Orthodox Christians, dealing with the vagaries of Ottoman politics, and maintaining reliable pilgrimage routes to Mount Athos and the Holy Land. During the middle decades of the century the Russian state forwarded its policy through its vice-consul, Angelo Mustoxidi, whose remarkable career sheds light on Russian policy, and typifies the experience of Greeks in Russian service who worked to implement tsarist prerogatives while representing the claims of their co-ethnics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We first estimate the source parameters related to the two 1995 events near Thessaloniki (Greece): the Kozani (Ms = 6.6) and the Arnea (Ms = 5.8) earthquakes. We use the strong motion waveforms recorded in Northern Greece to retrieve by forward modeling the source characteristics of the two events. Both point-source and finite-source models are used and different 1-D velocity models tested. Due to the absence of absolute timing of most of the recordings, the modeling is limited to fitting the peak acceleration (PA) at different frequencies at the bedrock stations. The best results in terms of PA are obtained with the finite-source models for a two-asperity k-square distribution. The source model for the Kozani event is compatible with the main fault proposed by Hatzfeld et al. [1997]. Given the two source models, we estimate the strong ground motion that would have been recorded due to these two events at different sites within the city of Thessaloniki. We estimate the strong ground motion by convolving the synthetic bedrock signals at the sites with 1-D and 2-D amplification curves obtained for the same sites during previous studies. Our analysis indicates which of the ten sites are the one most prone to strong shaking and confirms that the most crucial source parameter to be considered in ground shaking models is the rupture directivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the teaching approach that focuses on what pupils think about geography. An activity was administered to 84 children from three state schools in Thessalonike, North Greece. The children were asked to prepare and present a box filled with objects that relate to their definitions of geography. They are also asked to justify their choices participating in focus group interviews run by designated facilitators, graduate students from the Department of Education. It found that children participate in their own learning and geographical enquiry and relate geography lessons to real life.