The question of the International Exhibition Fair in the city of Thessaloniki has been one of the most discussed in Greece. In the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st plans were made and talks were held between the government, local authorities, businesses and civic society as to whether to redevelop the site of the International Exhibition to become an International Venue with real estate buildings or to remove the majority of the Exhibition and instead create a green Metropolitan park accessible to all citizens in Thessaloniki. Municipal party groups put forward a plan for the creation of a park with abundant green and open to the public which was rejected by the mayoral authorities. After that they decided to organize a campaign to call for a local referendum on the future of the International Exhibition. In order to call a local referendum a minimum 10% of the local population is required, which is 23.000 in numeric terms. In the spring of 2025 the campaign officially kicked in bringing together different political, social and demographic groups. All united for achieving the goal of collecting 23.000 signatures to begin the process of calling for a referendum to be held.
The citizens embraced the goal of the campaign from the start, actively participating in engaging more and more people to a social issue that has been on the table for decades. The support of the public meant that the minimum number or signatures was achieved. However the mayoral authorities recently declined to engage in a conversation about the right of the local population to vote on the issue of the International Exhibition Area citing legal reasons for example the validity of signatures. On the opposite side the political parties and movements reject this reason as an excuse to avoid the discussion and are explicit in their intention to carry out a genuine discussion for the organizing of the first local referendum in Greek history. The decision to hold the referendum about the green metropolitan park is essential for two reasons.
First, a referendum is the ultimate form of direct and participatory democracy so that the citizens can directly influence the decision process at an issue they feel strongly about in their daily lives. Second the impact of climate crisis is evident in the city’s structure and the plan for a totally green park helps mitigate the consequences of the climate crisis. Consequently in this podcast we will explore the prospect of a green metropolitan park and the effect it can have on improving the city’s living conditions.