Major Development Agency Thessaloniki

The Major Development Agency Thessaloniki (MDAT) S.A., former Metropolitan Development Agency Thessaloniki S.A., as set up in 1994, is a Development Limited Special Purpose Company, covering the 11 Municipalities of the greater metropolitan urban district of Thessaloniki. The participating Municipalities are Thessaloniki, Kalamaria, Pavlos Melas, Ampelokipoi – Menemeni, Kordelio- Evosmos, Neapoli – Sykies, Delta, Oreokastro, Thermi, Chalkidona and Pylaia – Hortiatis, as well as the city organizations NOESIS - Thessaloniki Science Park and Technology Museum and CERTH (Centre for Research and Technology Hellas), as Organizations of the Local Government of the wider metropolitan urban area of Thessaloniki constituting its local government shareholders.

Location of the Thessaloniki metropolis

MDAT S.A. operates as a Local Government Organization on the basis of the Laws 3852/2010 “New Architecture of Local Government and Decentralized Administration - Code of Municipalities and Communities”, 4674/2020 “Strategic development perspective of Local Government Organizations, regulation of issues within the competence of the Ministry of Interior and other provisions”, in combination with the provisions of 2190/1920 and 4548/2018, as in force.

One of the milestones of the cooperation of the Municipality of Thessaloniki with MDAT S.A. is the development of the Resilient Strategy 2030, by joining, in 2014, the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network. This is considered as a unique opportunity to implement a robust, participatory approach and create a long-term strategy to address current and future challenges, and in doing so to connect with other cities and organizations across the world via the 100RC network. The 100RC methodology provided an innovative model for the local authority to develop a holistic city strategy in collaboration with adjacent municipalities, local academic institutions, the nonprofit sector, private stakeholders, citizens, and communities of the city. More than 40 organizations and 2000 citizens participated in our resilience dialogue, ensuring the strategy aligns with and complements other strategic initiatives in the local, regional, national and international domain, including the city’s 5 year Operational Plan 2020 and European Strategy for 2020. The Resilience Strategy is based on eight city values (Social Cohesion, Local Identity and Heritage, Environmental Management, Health and Wellbeing, Youth Empowerment, Multi-stakeholder Engagement, Technology Adaptation, Economic Prosperity), which represent our city’s identity and guide how we will plan for the future. The values cut across four main goals that together form the basis of the strategy.

Cover of the Resilient Strategy 2030

The Company’s operation as a Development Organisation consists in providing Management and Technical support to its local government shareholders for Development Planning and preparation, maturation, promotion in financial means and implementation supervision of Municipal projects, projects with significant inter- and supra-municipal scale and cooperation plans, in collaboration with other Development Bodies of the Local Government and the Public and Social Sector.

Therefore, the company operates within the context of the coherent “Strategic Sustainable Urban Development of the Major Integrated Spatial Investment of Urban Metropolitan Thessaloniki” that MDAT S.A. promotes for development planning, in the framework of EU financial mechanisms eligible in Greece, as well as other National, European and International financial, lending or donation instruments. In such context, MDAT S.A. forms a Technical and Management support mechanism for the local authorities and the social partners of the wider public sector and the area of civil society.

Some of the most important Engineering Services Department’s projects developed and implemented (ongoing), as results of the cooperation between MDAT S.A. and our shareholders are presented within the following pictures:

Restoration and reuse of the Building A2 at the former of Camp Pavlos Melas and transition into City Hall and Museum of National Resistance, Municipality of Pavlos Melas

Vosporos park redesign and greening, Municipality of Ampelokipoi – Menemeni

Further to the Engineering Services Department, the Management and Implementation of Sustainable Development Projects and the Social Resilience and Inclusion Departments aim at the design and implementation of business planning and development projects. These work as a development mechanism of public interest of the bodies of the urban metropolitan Municipality of Thessaloniki for the production and dissemination of design and methodological tools at the local and supra-local planning level, covering all the areas in which the Local Government directly or indirectly exercises policy and intervenes during the exercise of its development planning and project implementation.

Within implementing a series of important projects in programmes, such as Interreg Europe, Interreg Mediterranean, Horizon 2020, URBACT, etc., policies and strategic action plans are being investigated and developed that integrate joint urban and transportation planning, innovation and smart cities interventions, urban, natural environment, as well as social inclusion and resilience, by encouraging participatory activities.

We participate at the Management and Implementation of Sustainable Development Projects Department in strong partnership schemes, including URBACT RiConnect network, in which we feel very honored to participate, comprising of Organisations and experts with great experience in the field of Urban and Transportation planning, but also with Civil society organisations. These projects aim at the promotion and dissemination of research, interventions at metropolitan scale, development of an integrated ecosystem of innovation and knowledge and the connection of research results, innovations and applied knowledge with the policies of local government at the level of the wider region of Thessaloniki.

REMEDIO - REgenerating mixed-use MED urban communities congested by traffic through Innovative low carbon mobility sOlutions: Redesign and upgrade of a major urban axis within a high-participatory approach for the development of the proposal

The ultimate goal of our activities is to support the City in all sections, concerning contemporary urban environments, issues of sustainable urban development, mobility and accessibility, promotion of emblematic projects of metropolitan scale and development of feasible planning tools and intelligent digital applications to upgrade the City's functions, the level of service to the citizens, with emphasis to vulnerable groups, and the improvement of the quality of life.

Moreover, the MDAT S.A. Social Resilience and Inclusion Department is in close cooperation with the Municipality of Thessaloniki for the development of a city-wide social and affordable housing strategy in Thessaloniki to combat homelessness and housing exclusion, supported, also, by the URBACT ROOF Network, since 2019. It intervenes in a Greek context where there is no overarching housing policy, 0% social housing stock and one of the most severely affected countries in the EU in terms of housing cost overburden for low-income households (over 70%). The participatory processes involved has led to joint planning with NGOs, local authorities, universities, activists, practitioners, ministry representatives in the city actively engaging in the initiative and collectively designing measures. Within this framework, MDAT S.A. is proud to be the winner of the European Housing Innovation Award 2021 through its policy initiative: Instigating Holistic Social and Affordable Housing Policies in Thessaloniki. Among 12 finalists from countries from the UK, Germany, Slovakia, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Bulgaria and Italy, MDAT S.A. has been awarded for the integrated and participatory processes it has been adopting in developing a first of its kind local Housing Strategy for the Municipality of Thessaloniki in collaboration with public and private actors across the city.

Finally, our continuous effort is the inclusion in European Union projects and actions, in view to turn the climate and environmental challenges into opportunities, in all policy areas, and for all, in a sustainable, green and coherent economy.

Cover image: The Umbrellas by Zongolopoulos, a public artwork at the New Thessaloniki Waterfront