The paper examines urban waterfront redevelopment in Greek cities, regarding them as a group of cities rather than focusing on each case independently. It attempts to set up a theoretical framework for the redesign of space based on three considerations: (a) the development prospects of Greek cities, and especially smaller Greek cities, within the European urban system, (b) the potential of urban design as a means of economic development of cities and the ways such a ‘use’ of urban design may be adopted by Greek cities in urban waterfront redevelopment and (c) the main morphological and spatial characteristics exhibited in common by Greek cities and their waterfronts. The paper argues that in the competitive European urban system, urban waterfront redevelopment is a challenge for Greek cities – a pilot spatial terrain where ‘change’, ‘improvement’ and ‘development’ may operate: (i) ‘change’ of the established urban design practices from episodic and soft interventions towards large scaled interventions and avant-garde design of space, (ii) ‘improvement’ of the quality of space in the core of Greek cities, and (iii) ‘development’ of urban tourism by placing Greek cities on the urban map of Europe as a distinct group of cities with characteristic waterfronts
