Uploaded on 2014-11-17 by virnak

Athens is another example of city dived into the global economical system. This means that the most decisive factor for the development of its urban system is **CAPITAL**. Capital, as **STOCK AND FLOW**, is responsible for the city’s spread and its transformation to financial center of the whole country. Because of its virtual nature capital cannot be isolated and even more it cannot be measured alone. Capital has created a grave impact on the city’s built environment as well. The years of city’s economical transformation were accompanied with a huge movement of material and people towards the city center. Companies needed a place in the headquarters, governors wanted their facilities to be predominant. Along with them people also moved. We have, therefore, **BUILDINGS** accumulated creating a stable **STOCK** and **PEOPLE** who either live there or commute to/from there creating **STOCK AND FLOW** indices. ![enter image description here][1] The cultural background of the city is also a predominant factor for the development of its urban system. Millions of **foreigners** are visiting Athens every year, forming a current **flow** which is important to be identified, described or even formalized in a way. ![enter image description here][2] **FUTURE** The better understanding of a city’s needs lies to the identification of the invisible and visible information that it provides us with. Taking into consideration the stocks and flows of the city helps us understand how this particular city works and gives us the tools to describe it. For example, Athens can be described as an accumulated mass of buildings. This is the point to start with. We need to identify this mass and measure it in order to make it manageable. And by manageable I mean that we will know in what extent this mass is used or not, in what extent this mass houses people, in what extent this mass plays a role to the public formation of the city, and so we will be able to rethink of it or even reduce it. And this doesn’t come alone. As stocks and flows interact, understanding and managing the stock of buildings is connected profoundly with understanding and managing the flow of people around it. But people are not only numbers to be identified and measured. Most importantly they are behaviors. In these terms we need to take into account how people use their buildings, how people use their public spaces, how people are transported and where they are transported to, how tourists walk the city and what they need to see on their way, and so to be able to rethink of space, of built and non-built environment altogether. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14162370051311249.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14162370425606052.jpg