Tirana – From geneses to the metropolitan model

This special edition focused on Tirana is a reflection on some of the most important projects for the city’s transformation, a process which started at the beginning of the last century and is still continuing. A particular focus is placed on the projects presented during the period 2004- 2011 regarding architecture and urban planning. Most importantly, this issue is not merely a summary of projects but an attempt to see Tirana’s evolutionary process, from its beginnings to the “Greater Tirana and the current phase of international competitions aiming to transform Tirana into a competitive city in the Balkan region. This article highlights the fact that, differently from what many people believe, Tirana is not lacking in projects or ideas but rather concrete actions needed to implement projects and guarantee continuity based on a mid to long term vision. As we can see from the article, “urban imagination” which includes ideas coming not only from architects and planners but also from ordinary people, played an important role in Tirana’s shape as a physical and “celestial” / ideal structure. This makes Tirana a city “moving” between dreams and reality, a “shift” which is an important generator for the city’s existence and transformation … from “agricultural fields” to the urban “cosmic axes” of the boulevard, from concentric rings to the “archipelago city”, from a solely spontaneous to also a designed/structured city, from dictatorial interventions to self-made incremental housing and neighborhoods, from “Tirana” to “Durana”, from small to big. In order to better position Tirana in its historical process, it has been useful to analyze it also from the perspective of the collective experiences which along history triggered qualitative improvements in a global scale and created the base for the development of new urban civilizations. This is vitally important in our days when cities in the global arena are facing new challenges due to environmental and energy crises. This context encompasses new challenges. What will the Tirana of the future look like? Towards which version of “Tirana” are we heading? Are we ready to undertake a new and daring leap? Hopefully, the overview presented in this article and in this special edition in general, can offer a modest contribution to these questions. Finally, this issue is also a contribution to the information on important issues of Tirana’s development pertaining to professional circles as well as the public in general.