Characteristics of Urbanization of Albania in Transition: From the Unplanned and Informal Development Model to the Statist Model of Territorial Planning and Development.

Gentian Kaprata
Europian University of Tirana

Abstract

In 1991, Albania entered the transition with an urbanization level of 32% - 36% of the total national population. This urban indicator evolved to 42% in 2001, to 44% in 2003, 53.7% - 58.2% in 2011. The urbanization process has gone through four phases, which differ from each other in relation to (i) the interaction of society with the territory, and (ii) the role of governance in territorial development issues. Urbanization in the first phase was presented as completely spontaneous, informal and with high intensity. The approach to the legalization of informal buildings was due to statist inertia, while efforts to create liberal legislation for formal development did not bear the intended fruits. The success of this phase was to bring representative democracy to the local level as well. The second phase of urbanization would bring about the consolidation of informal construction, but also the first attempts of the government to confront this phenomenon. It produced sectoral legislation with statist characteristics expressed in some indicators, but also expanded the power of local government in the areas of urban development and management. In the third phase of urbanization, the phenomenon of informal construction will appear to a lesser extent, while the level of urbanization continues to increase rapidly. Even at this stage, serious initiatives will be taken to produce liberal and democratic legislation, but the decentralization process will be stalled. The efforts of the fourth phase will change the governing discourse in terms of legality and formality, but will not change the urban and territorial situation of the country. The governance is presented through the drafting of new legislation, numerous police actions against informal constructions and centralized projects in the field of local planning and development, while informal construction undergoes a new peak. In its entirety, the governance of the fourth phase has produced a deep concentration of governing power in the territorial development sector.

Presentation