Grass-roots resistance for tangible heritage. The case of Tirana

In Tirana, the capital of Albania lives around 900.000 inhabitants in an urban area of 6000 ha. In early 1990, the ratio between inhabitants and the urban area was the same but three times less. This fast land consumption was driven by political and economical forces – such as the transition from a centralized state to a private oriented market, and remittances toward single families (Aliaj, Shutina, & Dhamo, Between energy and the vacuum, 2010). Nowadays more than 150.000 settlements are called informal from the National Cadastral Office. These inhabitants are missing the housing tenure and this fact makes them more vulnerable to the urban transformations in the city. Several events describe the struggle of these inhabitants, such in the case of “Astiri” neighborhood, or Paskuqan where the city ring is cutting throw. Dozens of old villas from the late 19 century positioned in the historic center, are in eminent threat due to rapid development. The city of Tirana transformative operation culminated the very first months after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. During 2020 dozens of new high-rise buildings, were constructed in the city historical center, operation that resulted with the demolishement of several historical buildings, part of country tangible heritage. This paper describes the process of transformation of the city, through the case study of the National Theater. The theater was demolished on May 17 of 2020, while the entire country was under the Pandemic lockdown. The building became a place of resistance, triggering several forms of collective ecologies of activism that were unfolded during the resistance, before and after the demolition of the building. At the lack of official responses by the authorities, informal associations and grassroots organizations have stepped up to provide for the communities through active participations.