AENAON – Faliro Metropolitan Park: A Landmark Project Set to Transform Athens’ Waterfront

With Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis present, Attica Region signed the construction contract with the TERNA–METKA–ILIOCHORA–ELEMKA consortium, launching one of the Mediterranean’s largest urban regeneration projects and reconnecting Athens with its coastline

Athens is preparing for a major transformation of its waterfront after the construction contract for AENAON – Faliro Metropolitan Park was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The agreement between the Region of Attica and the consortium comprising TERNA, METKA, ILIOCHORA and ELEMKA marks the transition of the long-awaited Faliro Bay redevelopment from planning to implementation.

At the heart of the project is a simple but ambitious objective: to return a major section of the Attica coastline to residents and visitors, creating an extensive green public space while reconnecting the Greek capital with the sea.

The Metropolitan Park will cover approximately 741,000 square metres along the coastal front and is being financed through Greece’s 2021–2027 EU funding framework under the Environment and Climate Change Programme.

Following the signing ceremony at Plateia Nerou in Faliro, the construction site is expected to be established in November. Detailed implementation studies are scheduled for completion by mid-December 2026, with construction work expected to begin in January 2027.

Completion and inauguration of AENAON are planned for the second half of 2029.

Mitsotakis: “We Are Ending a Decades-Long Pending Issue”

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed the project within the broader transformation of the Attica coastline, describing the contract signing as the end of an unresolved issue stretching back decades.

“Today we are bringing a decades-long pending issue to an end, settling a debt to the residents of the neighbouring municipalities, the people of Attica and its visitors. AENAON will become a continuous lung of progress and a catalyst for lasting development along Attica’s coastal front,” Mitsotakis said.

The prime minister argued that the project represents “perhaps the most decisive step towards restoring the capital’s long-troubled relationship with the sea and its coastline.”

But his intervention went beyond the park itself.

Mitsotakis linked the project directly to the government’s wider development strategy and signalled that infrastructure investment will remain central to its political agenda beyond the completion of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

“Infrastructure projects are continuing. The next four-year term must be associated with a leap in growth based on both private and public investment,” he said, pointing to his forthcoming Thessaloniki International Fair address for further announcements.

A New Green Landmark for Attica

AENAON is designed as much more than a conventional urban park.

The redevelopment aims to transform a large part of Faliro Bay into a green, accessible metropolitan destination combining nature, recreation, culture and sustainable mobility.

Thousands of new trees and extensive Mediterranean planting are planned, while the project will incorporate walking and cycling routes, recreational facilities and areas dedicated to culture and public activities.

Crucially, the planning philosophy places significant emphasis on maintaining the predominantly public and green character of the site.

The scale of the intervention makes AENAON one of the most significant urban regeneration projects currently being undertaken in Greece — and one of the largest of its kind in the Mediterranean.

European Commission: A Model of Sustainable Urban Transformation

The European dimension of the project was underlined by European Commission Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms Raffaele Fitto, who addressed the event in a recorded message.

Fitto highlighted AENAON’s ability to demonstrate how major cities can combine environmental priorities with social objectives and sustainable mobility.

“Through close cooperation, we can ensure that EU funding delivers tangible benefits for our citizens and our regions. Today’s signing is both an achievement and a commitment: to make the area an emblematic destination,” he said.

The Commission’s message is significant because AENAON represents precisely the type of urban investment Brussels increasingly wants EU cohesion funding to support: projects that combine infrastructure with climate resilience, quality of life and sustainable urban development.

Mytilineos: “We Will Deliver a Jewel for Attica”

Evangelos Mytilineos, Executive Chairman of METLEN, described AENAON as a major intervention in one of the most important and environmentally sensitive parts of Attica’s urban landscape.

“Faliro Bay had remained fragmented and underutilised for many years. Today, we are going to reverse that picture for the residents of the entire area,” he said.

Mytilineos stressed that METKA, METLEN’s construction arm, has already participated in infrastructure projects that have transformed Attica and other parts of Greece.

He also made a clear commitment regarding the delivery of AENAON.

“I am certain that we will deliver a jewel of a project for Attica. Our commitment is clear: to deploy all our capabilities so that the project is implemented with the quality and speed it deserves.”

Peristeris: “We Are Confident We Will Achieve the Best Possible Result”

GEK TERNA Chairman and CEO Giorgos Peristeris also emphasised the importance of cooperation between the members of the construction consortium and the Region of Attica.

“TERNA, with its consistently demonstrated diligence and effectiveness, and through the strong cooperation within the contractor consortium with METKA, will make every effort — and we are confident that we will achieve the best possible result,” Peristeris said.

He also praised the Region of Attica for keeping the project alive despite the long and complicated path towards implementation.

“Very soon, this magnificent jewel for Attica will be delivered to the public,” he added.

Hardalias: One of the Mediterranean’s Largest Urban Regeneration Projects

Attica Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias placed particular emphasis on the historical relationship between Athens and the sea.

For decades, he argued, the capital’s development model effectively turned its back on the coastline, depriving Attica of one of its greatest comparative advantages.

AENAON is intended to reverse that model.

The new metropolitan park will cover approximately 741,000 square metres and include more than 4,000 trees and hundreds of thousands of new plantings, while remaining open and accessible to citizens.

Hardalias described it as one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the Mediterranean and stressed that its philosophy is based on preserving public space rather than commercialising it.

“Our objective is to establish a new approach against the logic of commercialising public space that has prevailed in recent years,” he said.

Papathanasis: “Athens Is Returning to Its Waterfront”

Alternate Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis captured the broader symbolism of the project.

“We are here today to sign something more than a contract. We are signing the return of Athens to its waterfront,” he said.

Papathanasis described AENAON as “a genuine green lung for the entire metropolitan area” and stressed the importance of returning the site to residents and visitors.

“With this project, Athens rediscovers its sea and becomes greener and more human,” he said.

From Faliro to Ellinikon: Athens Turns Back Towards the Sea

The importance of AENAON becomes even clearer when viewed alongside the wider transformation taking place across Attica’s southern coastline.

The redevelopment of Ellinikon, infrastructure projects along the coastal axis and the regeneration of Faliro are gradually reshaping an urban front that for decades remained fragmented and disconnected from much of the capital.

AENAON adds a distinctly public and environmental dimension to that transformation.

Rather than functioning primarily as a real-estate development, the project is intended to create a large metropolitan green space accessible to the wider public.

That distinction is central to its strategic significance.

A Project With Economic, Environmental and Political Weight

For the Mitsotakis government, AENAON also provides a tangible example of the development model it wants to project ahead of the next political cycle: European resources translated into visible infrastructure, large-scale investment combined with public space, and projects delayed for decades finally moving into construction.

That explains why Mitsotakis used the signing ceremony to look beyond 2029 and towards the next four-year term.

The government wants infrastructure already delivered or under construction to serve as a “passport of credibility” for its next development programme.

For Attica itself, however, the impact could be more immediate.

After decades during which much of Athens developed with its back turned to the sea, AENAON promises something fundamentally different: a greener capital that finally reconnects one of Europe’s largest metropolitan areas with the coastline that has always been one of its greatest natural assets.

Source: pagenews.gr