Resumen
The need for urban connectivity in the cities of northern Europe has put forward the use of any means of transport. Cities like Hamburg, Stockholm and Venice that traditionally were industrial and commercial centers have developed a significant network of metro, trains, trams and buses for the wellbeing of the local residents and visitors. The essence of the interchange of these networks of transportation is beneficial for the cities themselves for workers´ needs as well as for locals and visitors, for day to day living and recreation. What makes the reference to these large cities interesting by definition is the similarities that they have with respect to the landscape, land, sea and islets, and the need for a water based means of transportation as well as the interchange with the already established network of urban transportation. Another bond between these three cities is that all of them have large ports so one might take it for granted that any place on earth having these similarities a) large city with port, b) specific landscape with rivers and c) given needs for connectivity, has established an urban transportation network that includes a water based transportation (river and sea). Despite the fact that Greece has the most extensive coast line in Europe with a network of maritime transportation from the shore to and between the islands, adequate systems of urban transportation has not been developed yet i.e. in Piraeus, Volos or have just started like in Thessaloniki. One of the main reasons, despite the need, is the difficulty in state legislation for a sea urban transportation connecting a) main cities like Volos and smaller cities inside the Pagasetic Gulf or b) an island´s centre such as Skiathos Town with touristically developed coastal areas in the same way that urban transportation operates in a) the aforementioned large cities, as well as, b) the network of small towns along the coastline of Lake Como in Italy. The purpose of this article is to show that the creation of a water based urban transportation network, despite the difference in scale, compared to the other European cities is, a) necessary with respect to town and local residents? interests, b) visitors? needs, c) beneficial to the sustainability of the local economy and the local environment and it is not only evitable but a large number of best practices forms of equivalent networks already exist.