Imagine the Future

and Create It

Politicians (MPs, regional governors, mayors) usually look close and not far. They look up to four or five years ahead, that is, until the next elections. That is why they build projects that will be visible within the term, so that citizens will vote for them again and they will win the next elections. But that way... “a village (city) is not made.”

Also, Regions and Municipalities have evolved into sluggish bureaucratic mechanisms. And this happens when they need to act quickly and flexibly, with management rules.

Therefore, the Regional Governor and Mayors need to persuade their employees to leave behind the bliss of permanence and become more effective and more productive. Also, they need to be motivated to propose solutions and useful practices. And above all to realize that, as employees, they exist for the citizens and not the citizens for the employees.

If the Regional Governor and the municipalities could see far ahead, in 2021 they would design the future of the Peloponnese and the Municipalities. They would imagine the future of the Peloponnese and of the Municipalities of Kalamata and create it.

Therefore, the Regional Governor and the Mayor of Kalamata are called upon to reach out to the best minds of the Peloponnese, within and outside Greece, and ask for their proposals for the future of the Peloponnese and Kalamata over the next 30 years, with an intermediate milestone in 2031. It is also useful to seek out some visionaries, because planning the future requires vision.

The Peloponnese has it all: unique landscape relief, unique endless coastlines, unique mountains, plains, rivers, countless monuments of culture. And much more. Every region - every city, every area - needs to capitalize on its comparative advantages.

As a contribution to planning and creating the future, the following are proposed:

A) Spatial and urban planning. At last, we need to prevent problems and not run breathlessly after them. Let us imagine the cities of 2051 and design them now.

Incidentally, regarding Kalamata: I cannot understand the logic of those who “placed” the university in the camp. In addition, some decided to make this small space even smaller by building residences. Thus, the university lacks the necessary living space. But it has a wonderful view: the underwear of the neighboring residences! Too bad.

With the opportunity of redesigning the map of higher education, should all schools/departments be concentrated in Tripoli? Or do the owners of cafes and souvlaki shops not want that?

B) Priority should be given to the use of surface waters (rain, rivers, lakes) for water supply and irrigation, and only then groundwater. Small and large dams should be created everywhere. The crime of 200-meter-deep boreholes needs to stop, because it has destructive consequences.

C) Protection and utilization of cultural heritage. The Peloponnese is full of monuments of world heritage (Olympia, Epidaurus, Mycenae, Pylos, Ancient Messene, etc.). But it also has countless Byzantine and Modern History monuments.

D) Creation of 2-3-4 “cities of innovation - technopoles,” with a population of 5,000-10,000 inhabitants, on the outskirts of large cities. Example: such a technopolis should be created on the outskirts of Kalamata.

Incidentally: the size of the city should not be so small that it looks like a village, nor so large that it causes problems. It needs to be of such a size that it can reproduce itself demographically, economically, and culturally. The goal is the “optimum size.”

Certainly, neither the Region nor the Municipality has the capital required for long-term planning and major projects. That is why more projects through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are needed, as well as foreign investment.

The brand name “Hellas,” “Pylos,” “Olympia,” “Arcadia,” “Argos,” “Nemea,” “Epidaurus,” etc. sells. It is up to us to make use of it. Incidentally, the Mediterranean diet is primarily Greek. Therefore, from now on we promote the “Greek diet.”

It is time we learned to plan and design, because this improves our lives. So let us imagine the future of the Peloponnese, Messinia, Kalamata and create it. Today, because “tomorrow” will be too late.

Happy New Year

And many happy returns!!!

Paulos Marantos

marantosp@gmail.com