The first Market of Social Entrepreneurship
Following a participatory model of management and revival of the urban landscape, the Municipality of Athens chose through an open process the Impact Hub Athens in order to curate the reopening of the Municipal Market. In 2016 the Municipality of Athens renovated the Municipal Market of Kypseli, so that the building could be reused in the most beneficial way for the society, within a bigger plan of re-utilizing all available resources of the city, promoting at the same time, culture, innovation, creative entrepreneurship, while upgrading the quality of life in the local community. Our aim is to put the 6th District on the map,and turn it again into a pole of attraction; a meeting for Athens, through the Municipal Market of Kypseli, which now houses educational, cultural activities, as well as social economy initiatives, based on the strong agenda of development, social cohesion and participation.
Our main goal is the Market to become a lever for the regeneration of the local economy, that will attract a new market audience and will bring interest, products and services to the locals and entrepreneurs, while offering new experiences to the Athenians.
Neighbourhood & History
Architecture of the Interwar Period and a typical example of Athenian Modernism in the 1930s, the Kypseli Municipal Market – a building of Fokionos Negri Street – was preserved in 2005.? Since its establishment, it has functioned as a food market until 2003 and has ceased to operate. It was then threatened many times with a demolition that was prevented by interventions and written protests by important residents of the area. In July 2017, Impact Hub Athens undertook the challenge of reopening the Kypseli Municipal Market and exploiting this emblematic building.
