La morfología de las redes ante una ciudad en continua transformación: el caso del Metro ateniense

Abstract

The metro network of Athens currently consists of three lines: one electric railway line, constructed in the nineteenth century, and two more contemporary underground ones. The present study aims at comprehending the uniqueness of this configuration through the interpretation of the urban history and the mobility of the Greek capital. The research is focused on the analysis of the numerous proposals that had been put forward regarding the metro layout from 1920 up until 1980. The pluralism of the designs has been studied from the perspective always maintaining, however, in the context of the city’s urban growth. Its outcome reveals a set of common patterns that emerge among the different routes forming a persistent archetype. For all their apparent differences and in spite of their dispersion in time they adhere to a common pattern.