ABSTRACT
There are parts of Thessaloniki whose history remains in oblivion. Its periphery is a whole of this kind—unknown, yet familiar and uncanny. It grows at random, uninterrupted although vital to the city’s dynamics. Its transformation escapes attention even in urban plans. The chapter sheds light on the historical threads of the hard-to-read patchwork of the contemporary periphery which still stands in the shadow of the Thessaloniki central areas and dominant narratives. It describes the transformation of that periphery during the post-war period (1945–2010). Drawing on diverse primary and secondary sources and extensive empirical research (2000–2004 and 2013–2014), it highlights the socio-environmental characteristics of the periphery and the extent of integration or exclusion of its inhabitants. The period from the mid-1940s until the mid-1970s is marked by rapid urbanisation as a result of internal migration and urban extensions through self-generated settlements. The period following the 1967–1973 dictatorship is marked by a decrease in residential development and by more intense efforts at urban planning rationalism, leading to official urban plans. Still, as Roma ghettoisation and the mixed results of resettlement of Pontian migrants show, a sharp contrast between the ‘real’ city and the ‘planned’ city has persisted.
