ABSTRACT
Thessaloniki is among the European cities suffering from severe development problems, as a result of a peculiar combination of physical and political circumstances, despite its valuable historical heritage. Both the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the City Master Plan conceive energy as a driving force for local development. City planning considerations over local energy supply systems, urban waste management and transport systems seem quite promising and are economically attractive. National energy policy is exercised by a number of public agencies and corporations, the Public Power Corporation (PPC) being the major actor and monopolizing the electricity market, while the government supervises and controls the energy market. The fact that several of the basic determinants for success are missing funds, technical back-up, etc is recognized by the relevant city agencies which believe, however, in the catalytic action of both the community's regional development programmes and the cooperation with leading European cities.
