[Zurück]

M. Soi Gunelas:
"Αγορές σκουπιδιών | Agoras of waste urban space appropriation in the context of Eleonas' wastepicker markets";
Betreuer/in(nen): S. Knierbein; Institut für Raumplanung, Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, Forschungsbereich 285-02, 2021.

This thesis studies phenomena of urban space appropriation at the wastepicker markets of Eleonas,
Athens. The history of wastepickers in Athens is shaped by repression and displacement from cen-
tral urban spaces and is marked by the relocation of the wastepicker bazaars to the area of Eleonas.
Eleonas became a subject of degradation and subsequent urban restructuring processes in the last
thirty years, yet remaining the productive core of the city. Narratives of failure and decline have sup-
ported this transformation, while they fail to grasp the living and working realities of Eleonas´ users.
The wastepicker markets-agoras of waste-that settled in the area facilitate various expressions of
urban space appropriation, with the market actors claiming resources such as public space and solid
waste in order to support their livelihoods. I thus ask in which ways urban space appropriation is
manifested through trading practices at the wastepicker markets of Eleonas, in the background of
urban restructuring processes, displacement and marginalization. I argue that this expression of
space appropriation, in the context of large scale urban redevelopment projects, constitutes an act of
commoning. This happens as a contestation of imposed plans that are defined by hegemonic under-
standings of the residual in the city, by Eleonas´ users who, through their actions, resist being treated
as passive subjects. By highlighting this topic, I aim to amplify the acting subjects´ perspectives and
realities.

https://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/publik_301121.pdf