- Over 33,000 citizens have downloaded the MyStreet app
- Data from 99 municipalities already live, with 7,324 permits recorded
- Athens (1,991) and Thessaloniki (1,227) lead the way
- Smaller towns like Trikala, Volos, and Paros are also active
- Heraklion, Patras, and Sparta are still at zero entries
MyStreet, the government’s new app for tracking public space permits, has quickly taken hold. Citizens can see who is renting sidewalks or squares, file complaints when something blocks access, and check for charging stations or safe gathering points in emergencies. Municipalities, in turn, gain an easy system to manage leases and improve accountability.
So far, the data are flowing: nearly 7,300 active entries, with most visible to the public. In Athens alone, almost 2,000 permits are mapped out, from café chairs to kiosks. Thessaloniki follows with 1,227. Even Paros has 141.
And then there is Heraklion. Still nothing. Zero entries. The island’s busiest city has yet to appear on the digital map of transparency.
A Missed Chance for Crete?
The absence is glaring. A tool designed to protect common spaces, ensure access for parents with strollers, children, and people with disabilities, and combat illegal sidewalk occupation is currently lacking in Heraklion’s digital landscape.
The app works. Citizens across Greece have already filed over 4,350 reports, with nearly a thousand published. The question is not if the platform functions — it clearly does. The question is why some of the country’s largest cities are leaving their squares and sidewalks off the record.
Until Heraklion signs on, Crete’s capital remains a blank space on a map designed to give public space back to the public.
Until Heraklion signs on, Crete’s capital remains a blank space on a map designed to give public space back to the public. Then again, most locals might shrug — they already know their sidewalks are occupied. Who needs an app to confirm the obvious?
