The subject of this book is social segregation in Athens, that is, the distribution of various social groups in the urban space. Athens does not showcase either towers for the wealthy or shantytowns for the poor.

As the capital of a rather poor state, whose economy was mainly agrarian until the 1960s, the city with its built environment does not display signs of great private or public wealth and international power. The signs of poverty have gradually faded as a consequence of rapid post-war economic development and the effective role of family solidarity in compensating for the welfare state.

This does not mean that class inequality is absent or that vulnerable groups such as migrants and minorities do not face discrimination. It means that structures, such as the social profile of urban land ownership, mechanisms, such as prevailing housing systems and access to home ownership, and practices, such as family solidarity to meet the housing needs of vulnerable family members, have hindered the translation of social inequality into spatial division.