Riparian areas are unique disturbance-driven ecosystems that have played an essential role for human welfare and development for thousands of years. They can provide many ecosystem services, especially for urban dwellers, such as decreased water pollution, recreation and relaxation areas and opportunities to escape from their daily routine. The impending climate change impacts to the hydrologic cycle that will include more intense precipitation events that will lead to more and higher magnitude floods and longer drought periods will further exacerbate the pressures that these ecosystems face, especially in urban settings. Through this project the current conditions of the riparian areas of Drama were assessed. This was done through visual assessment protocols, specifically the Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP) and the Riparian Forest Quality (QBR). Through the field measurements of the protocols, for the reaches along three streams that run through the city of Drama, the vegetation and stream channel conditions were assessed. Overall, the urban riparian areas that were visually assesed, have strong alterations and have poor quality. Additionally, stream water quality (water samples for different pollutants) and quantity (discharge) measurements on the three streams were taken to provide more insight on the stream channel and riparian conditions. Preliminary results indicate that the urban riparian areas are fragmented, face urban encroachment with many human infrastructures that have modified the stream channel and degraded the riparian vegetation and the presence of garbage is very frequent found. More effective management with naturebased restoration practices are required in order to maintain and/or improve the quality of riparian areas to be able to provide their ecosystem services to its urban dwellers. Additionally, the awareness of the importance and best use of riparian areas for citizens needs to be reinforced and promoted. Overall similar assessments, plans and practices should be adopted in other Greek cities for the enhancement and protection of urban riparian areas. Acknowledgement: This project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund in the framework of the implementation of the "Sustainable Urban Development Strategy of the Municipality of Drama" of the R.O.P. A.M.T. 2014-2020. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.