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UC Researchers Present Design, Business, Environmental Plans for Crete
Hersonissos, Crete -- An overflow crowd of more than 150 people applauded a new vision for the future in Hersonissos, Crete, July 20 as the University of Cincinnati presented the results of a six-week study on the problems of mass tourism in this popular European vacation spot.
The UC-led team of 12 students, 10 faculty and two professionals are proposing improved street grids and mapping, new entrances to the city, a comprehensive water management plan,
a new Heritage Corridor of significant historical and natural landmarks, a
parking and shuttle terminal to keep tourist cars out of the
seaport area, pedestrian pathways that would limit vehicular access, newly designed public squares and a business incubator and center.
Planning professor Michael Romanos, team leader of the UC Sustainable
Development Group, presented the UC proposals in Greek to the crowd gathered in the heat at the Cultural Center. The meeting
lasted about 90 minutes.
Crete is Greece's largest island, reaching some 150 miles across and attracting about 3 million tourists each year. It
faces the challenge of intertwining the tourist growth of its coastal areas with the small village traditions of the interior. The coastal town of Hersonissos faces problems of traffic and pedestrian congestion, overbuilding, declining water supplies and increasing pollution, a young and rowdy class of tourists -- all issues that have come about in the past 30 years of tourist growth.
Mayor Zacharias Doxastakis thanked the UC team for its work this summer. It is the second season of research by UC at Hersonissos, through UC's Globalization Initiative.
"The presentation seemed to go extremely well, and the mayor thinks we walk on
water," said Brenda Scheer, a team member and associate professor of urban planning and design.
The mayor presented certificates of honor to each UC team member and to the Greek students who worked on the project. He
and Professor Romanos were both interviewed for Kriti TV news, a network serving the island.
After the presentation, the UC team, the mayor and his city staff and the Greek assistants all boarded a bus and headed up
the side of the valley to the village of Kera for a dinner the mayor hosted to honor the UC team. On the way up to the outdoor
celebration, Romanos lifted his arms above his head in a sign of victory and satisfaction and said, "It's finally over." Romanos
had been hoping his laryngitis and cough would subside long enough to get through the presentation. They did.
Many team members said they would not feel a sense of relief until the book containing the team's final reports is completed
over the weekend.
At the taverna in Kera, the party started with rounds of raki, the traditional Greek liquor, as guests put on sweaters in the
cool air of high elevation. Appetizers of goat cheese, bread, pimento in olive oil and more started the feast. Seated next to
the mayor was Kera Village President Manolis Mandelenakis, a shepherd who provided a goat to be boiled for the main course and
goat cheese made from his herd.
Students learned a new Greek word during the festivities: aspro pate, which means
wipe the bottom or in English slang, "Bottom's up."
UC presented gifts of a photograph of Cincinnati's skyline to
the mayor and gifts of Bearcat caps and T-shirts to the Greek assistants, Maria Gialitaki, Katerina Farsaraki, Manos Karatzas,
George Kalaitzis and Baggelis Romanakis.
The party lasted until about 1:30 a.m. and on the way home on the bus, the driver stopped briefly to turn out the lights so the
Greek and American passengers could admire the moon shining, a little less than full, above the hills. During the evening the
mayor joked that the city workers would not get the next day off. "Nobody sleeps in Crete," he said.
This year was the first year that the study group in Crete included students on
the team. Frank Wray, a biologist on the team, said that although he at first had reservations about bringing students, he now knew
the team could not have accomplished as much as it did without the students' help.
For more stories on UC's research in Crete, go to http://www.uc.edu/crete/credef.htm.
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