An epidemic of falls on the ‘mean streets’ of Athens

The mayor of Athens Haris Doukas is the first to agree. Acknowledging that much of the city poses “significant accessibility challenges” he has pledged to make his fiefdom more pedestrian-friendly. “We’ll be working intensely to confront the problem of illegal parking, to replace damaged pavements, to introduce ramps,” he said earlier this summer, reckoning that 44% of older people and those with disabilities found it hard to negotiate the streets at all.