A city design proposal for upgrading the center of Rhodes city , Greece.

1. The City of Rhodes lies on the island of Rhodes in Greece.
It is a small city of about 60.000 people, covering about
1.000 Ha and it is the capital of the Dodecanese Prefecture
which includesa clusterofsmallerislands.
To make things worse sidewalks are very narrow, most of them no more than 1,50 meters wide. In these narrow
sidewalks, trees, streetlights, trash bins, parked motorcycles and cars take up all the space, making most sidewalks
unwalkable. This is really a pity since natural elements are generous for our city, which , being small, flat and blessed
witha perfectMediterraneanclimate isperfectforwalkingandcycling.
This obviously creates traffic jams and a terrible parking problem, since there are very few dedicated parking
spaces. Cars park everywhere, occupying every inch of available public space, including sidewalks, and a large
part of the seafront. This creates a very ugly urban scenery, aesthetically devaluating the city’s historic buildings
andseafrontlandscape.
Rhodes city is situated at the Northern triangular tip of
the island, and its market and administration center is at
the tip of the triangle. This functions as a funnel
concentrating a large number of cars and people, locals
and tourists, visiting for shopping, business, and tourism in
atinyspace.

2. PIER EXTENTION PARKING
LOT
UNDERGROUND PARKING
LOTS
PARKING LOT
BUILDING
SEAFRONT
UPGRADE
INCOMING TRAFFIC
OUTGOING TRAFFIC
PARKING
SPACES
Threeaxis ofmeasurestoresolvethissituation
A. Ban carsfrom the center of the city, an area 600 by 300 meters which is perfectly walkable as it is very small, relatively flat and
blessedwitha perfectclimate,making cars completelyunnecessary.
B. Construct parking spaces for residents and visitors at the edges of the pedestrian area. The traffic has to be redistributed to
servethenewsituationandcreatemoreparkingspace.
C. Change the use of some administration buildings to
reduce the number of visitors, and give a new cultural
andentertainmentaura to the city center.Thiswould also
make itmoreattractivetotourism,improvingincome.
Freeing the seafront from parked cars, will open the way
to upgrade it and, in combination with new uses for
publicbuildings,createnewattractivepublicspaces..
Small electric bus route circulates pedestrian area,
connectingwithparkingspaces
PEDESTRIAN AREA
A VISIONFOR RHODES CITY

3. BEFORE
UPGRADE RHODES CITY
AXIS A: CREATING A PEDESTRIAN AREA
PIER EXTENTION
Ban carsfrom a major part of the centerof the city, an area 600 by 300 metersas shown on the map, inwhich all ground levelof the buildings is takenby shops, and above them mostlyoffices.The district is perfectly walkable as
itisverysmallandrelativelyflat.
Theseafrontstreet(Freedomavenue isthefaçadeofthecityofRhodes,linedwithhistoricalbuildingswithadministrative,culturalandentertainmentfunctions.
Getting rid of cars, which take overall available space, will upgrade the urban scenery, enhance business and make the city center friendlier to visitors and residents. More trees can be planted and green spaces created which will
improvethemicroclimate,especiallyimportantinthehotsummermonths.
PEDESTRIAN AREA

4. Inorderto bancarswe must createparking spacesat theedgesof the pedestriandistrictforvisitorsandresidents.Thisdemandsspace,which is hardto findin theconfinedspaceof the tip of an islandpeninsula.
Therearesomesolutionsthough
Two underground parking lots can beconstructed. Thesites arepublic owned and arealready
elevatedfrom thestreet.One is a basketball court, which can bereconstructed overtheparking
lot, and theotheris the edgeof apublic park, sloping upwards, so thatthespace overthe
underground parking lot can belandscaped and returnedtothepark. Theseareappropriate for
parking sitesfor the residentsof the center.
A large parking lot can be constructed at the small
Mandraki harbor, by extending the pier apron and
creating a submerged parking lot. This can be quite
large, 10.000 sq. meters or more, solving the problem
of parking for visitors, and also creating a new
seafront landscape that will give new life to the
region.
By rearranging the traffic, parking spaces
will be created in the North part, while
many of the existing ones areretained.
Anothersiteisavailable wherea parkingbuildingof2-3storiescan bebuilt,ifneeded.
MEDIEVAL CITADEL
UPGRADE RHODESCITY
AXISB: PARKING SPACES

5. The port is serving mostly small yachts andtourist boats. Yachts will move tothe new
Marinathat has justbeen constructed, so there is no problemin reducing the portsize.
This is the most crucial measure andthe ideal spotfor a parking lot, since this is the
major“starting point “, aspot from where visitors andlocals haveaccess tothe new
city center, the Medieval citadel, andthe Moat Park, whose main entrances arealso
here.
AXIS B SUBMERGED PARKINGLOT
PARKINGENTRANCE
The extended pier above the
submerged parking lot will
create anew seafront plaza,
as an extension ofthe
existing historical Freedom
Avenue plaza. Itshould be
designed in acontemporary
style to clearly distinguish
andseparate fromthe
historical part.

6. It can be used for the departure of tourist
boats that are now crammed along the old
seafront where space is clearly not enough
for the people that concentrate, ticket booths
and street vendors, who take up all the
available space. A low building can
accommodate the ticket booths and shops ,
and there is ample space for street vendors
andpedestrians.
AXIS B SUBMERGED PARKINGLOT
It could alternatively be designed with a reference
to the history of Rhodes ( Rhodes was the Island
of the sun in ancient times . The sun rising from
the sea would be an interesting theme to explore).
Thus the new seafront could become a landmark
forRhodes city.
Of course the design of the new seafront and
parking lotcalls for an architectural competition .

7. Changingtheuseofsomeadministrationbuildingswillreducethenumberofvisitors,andincomingcars,andgivea newculturalandentertainmentaura tothecitycenter.Thetwobuildingsthatarechangedarethecourthouse
andtheDistrictAdministrationoffices.
• The District Administration building is a beautiful Italian
building of the 1930’s on the seafront. The seafront behind the
building is now a sea of cars, mostly of the people who work
there,anunattractivebackspace ofthecity.
Freeing the seafront from cars and making the ground floor of
the building commercial, with cafés and shops will create a new
beautifulpublicspace.
UPGRADE RHODES CITY
Overall these actions can radically transform and upgrade the city of Rhodes, making it friendlier to the inhabitants, and more attractive to tourism, promote culture and create new jobs and business
opportunities,improving income.
All of the above I consider are completely feasible, as they involve only public spaces, handled mainly by the local authorities (Municipal and District). Construction cost would be a serious restraint, but maybe
someof the projectscouldbeself– financed,sincetheycreatebusinessesandcan becomesourcesof profit.
• The court house is a large building of the 1930’s, situated on the historical seafront, that is inadequate for today’s needs anyway. It is
ideal for a music conservatoire (which is something that is missing from the island), since it has large spaces suitable for small concert
hallsandenoughspacesforteaching,studying,officesetc.anda beautifulsmallatriumforentertainment.
AXIS C : NEWUSESFORHISTORICAL BUILDINGS