From 1458 on, the political history of Greece is tumultuous. In the last 150 years, Athens has been under six different political systems or rulers. Such political instability has been detrimental to the planning of Athens. The different governments planned independently of each other, disallowing past plans to inform their own plans.
| 3,000 BCE | Known to be inhabited |
| Exact date unclear | Wall built around acropolis only. This meant that only upper class people and warriors were protected from invaders. |
| 1300 BCE | Townships of Attica form central council in Athens. Beginning of development
of Athens' region 479 BCE-Wall built around area of acropolis, protecting a larger amount of property and people included farmers. Cut down on tension between Athenian citizens and farmers in Attica |
| Then, 2000 years of an urban planning intermission | |
| 1458 | Turkish invade and gain control of Athens. They divide the city into 8 sectors. The houses on the borders of each faced inward, creating small units of defense. |
| 1687 | Venetian rule. |
| 1688 | Plague ravages Athens. The city is abandoned and uninhabited for 3 years |
| 1691 | Turks return. |
| 1787 | Walls rebuilt around city by Ottomons (close to sight of 5th century walls). These walls are for economic reasons; the collection of taxes on market good is made easy and more efficient by gates (controlled points of entry). |
| 1833 | Greek independence. The country is overwhelmingly rural. |
| 1834 | Athens is declared capital with a population of only 4,000. |
| 1921 | Large numbers of Greeks from Turkey return. The population booms and past unplanned development in Athens continues at a greater rate than ever before. |
| Nazi occupation | Planning not a priority |
| 1949 | Communist rebellion ends. |
| Early 50's to 1974 | Fascist government is in power. They concentrate on economic planning, not urban planning for quality of life. The problems exacerbated in this period still exist (i.e. traffic, water, pollution, land prices). |
| 1974 | Fascists are overthrown. The monarchy is dissolved and a parliament is created. |
| 1981 | Greece joins the European Union. |
| 2004 | Hosting Olympic Games (again) . |