The SVAK of the Municipality of Athens was approved by a majority in high tones

The discussion for the approval of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of the Municipality (SVAK) was held in high tones at today’s meeting of the Municipal Council of Athens.

“You are behind the sun. You are actually expressing a deep maintenance. The definition of anachronism “said the mayor of Athens, Costas Bakogiannis, responding to the criticism of the” Open City “and other opposition parties for this plan.

“The Left throughout Europe has this agenda at the ‘heart’ of its political program, with the exception of Greece,” he added.

Mr. Bakoyannis stressed that “SVAK is a strategic vision and is not a traffic, urban or environmental study.”

And he wondered why this too had to be turned into an object of controversy in a “city wounded” by crises, such as Athens, which since 2000 have been abandoned by 2 out of 5 inhabitants and has the most sqm on asphalt per inhabitant and the least in green. He also noted that SVAK “transfers good European practices”.

The mayor of Athens also stressed that this plan “does not belong to our party. But thousands of citizens who took part in a model consultation. Is the Municipal Council entitled to reject their proposals? ” he asked, addressing the opposition. According to the competent deputy mayor, Vassilis Axiotis, the goals of SVAK are to make Athens a modern, green, vibrant city. A standard capital, with fewer vehicles and more space for pedestrians and bicycles. A city that will highlight its cultural heritage and will focus on people and their needs, ensuring with “smart” – innovative technologies the balanced economic development, the improvement of the quality of life of its inhabitants, etc.

The head of the “Open City”, Nassos Iliopoulos, pointed out that the issue is not the main goals of the plan “but whether the policy measures it includes serve these goals”, which, as he said, does not happen with the proposed. Mr. Iliopoulos said that while the SVAK should be “as a strategic concept of the Municipal Authority as an open permanent consultation mechanism, in fact it is a static concept for a more static study”. He also noted that what the Municipal Authority considers “as light transport interventions are in fact heavy urban interventions”. From the “Athens is you” faction, George Broulias said that the specific plan “is not binding” but “a potential action plan”. The representative of the “People’s Rally”, Stelios Lambrou, stated that the SVAKs are essentially a tool for absorbing money from the Green Fund. And the resources that are given are to contribute to capitalist competitiveness. ” The leader of the “Rebellion in the Neighborhoods of Athens” faction, Petros Konstantinou, said that “the strategy is to develop the accumulation of Capital itself” while that of the “Anti-Capitalist Overthrow”, Panagiotis Kefallinos described it as a “timid plan without vision” for the that does not meet the needs of the city. The factions “Open City”, “Popular Rally”, “Rebellion in the Neighborhoods of Athens” and “Anti-Capitalist Overthrow” voted against