Industrial heartland: The ghost factories of refuge

Abstract

Syria's civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. No one chooses to be a refugee and the future is unknown. Many are making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea, and now, due to border officials, the once triumphant arrival of thousands of asylum seekers into Europe is a slow and methodical trickle. However, some cities die. The people leave, the streets go quiet, and the isolation takes on the macabre shape of a forlorn ghost-town. Crumbling Greece is dwelling to one of the vital oldest known constructions on this planet. Tourists flock from around the world to visit ruins of once glorious places like the Acropolis or Epidaurus and wonder at an historical civilisation. However, modern Greece has its personal ruins. Factories producing everything from textiles to cooking oil, steel mills to marble manufacturing, have been left to erode. These landmarks could potentially be transformed into mechanisms of mutual benefit to the Greek hosts as well as the refugees residing in them. The task of re-lifting and re-purposing these once vibrant industries is both complex and considerable, with little hope left in the ailing economy. Can these be remediated into self-sufficient communities, which not only cater to human needs, but also give back to Greece in terms of alleviating the economic crisis? Could these re-purposed industries grow to be factories of people? Could a metabolic intervention connect the structures in a way to bring families and communities together? The reactivation of these sites allow Syrian refugees not only to rehabilitate, but also to actively adapt to a new way of living.