Without a doubt, the winning entry is environmentally upgrading not onlyPanepistimiou Street but also the entire intervention area, extending fromAmalias Avenue up to the Archaeological Museum, while also upgrading the entirecity center altogether through a combination of beneficial interventions, suchas the following:

1. By reducing traffic in the city center, the intervention significantlydecreases emissions, air pollution and noise levels, thereby benefiting humanhealth and buildings/estate property (reduction of soot, damages in color andcorrosion).

2. The proposal impressively improves the area’s microclimate by reducinghigh temperatures during the summertime, based on a thoroughly studied systemof well-positioned plantings, drastically increased shaded spaces, increase ofhumidity through large, renewable water surfaces, “fog/cool fountains” andbreathable, absorbant pavement surfaces.

3. The proposal makes excellent use of rainwater, collecting it from squareand street surfaces as well as from neighbouring buildings into undergroundtanks and reusing it, also contributing to the prevention of local floodings.

4. Suggests the further improvement of the microclimate, proposing measuresfor “green roofs” and “green building fronts”.

5. The above measures, combined with better solid-waste management, willdirectly and indirectly diminish the presence of suspended particles in theatmosphere as well as of all kinds of odours and nuisances, resulting in acleaner and more pleasant environment, both practically and aesthetically,contributing to the environmental education of the public and especially theyoung. A series of studies worldwide have provided evidence that, a pleasant,well-maintained/clean environment radically changes citizens’ disposition, enhancingtheir respect towards the environment and the feeling of both having andapplying safe living in their everyday lives.

A: