Durres. The metamorfosis of public space between historical identity and the challenge for a contemporary city image.

Over the ‘90, after the collapse of the communist system, free market conquered public space. On one hand, the city started growing a lot by intensifying the center including also the residential area along the traditional seaside with a consequent reduction of public space, because of the absence of clear plan regulations. Moreover, in the conditions of a poor administration, public space was almost entirely neglected. Very few interventions of upgrade with minimal cost interested public road infrastructure and lighting installations in new residential areas. On the other hand, from the social perspective, due to the political and ideological change, public space was not seen any more like a shared space, but as ownerless space. In these conditions of non-occurrence and poor administration, public space underwent a process of degradation and further illegal occupation. It was seen as a space to be usurped or in the worst case as an “empty spaces” waiting to get build, very often by changing illegally the land use. The attention to public space was turned back after the 2000s, with the political vision of the former Mayor to improve the city’s image focusing on the most representative public space and on the remaining green areas of the city. Moreover, due to recent central government subsidies through the political program of “Urban renewal”, there was a broader interest in renovating public space.