Abstract
Tirana, immediately after it was declared the capital of Albania on 11 February 1920, has undergone many changes in its morphology and city context. The capital is located in the heart of the country. During its lifespan, Tirana has adopted four important regulatory plans starting from 1923. The Western ideologies of the time influenced drastically the city development. The influence of such ideologies was stopped immediately though the imposition of communist ideas, after the Second World War. Rational building forms were created which could be standardized in order to reduce construction costs. Meanwhile, in Western Europe, this current was implemented during the 1920s, as a response to social problems. The communist regime established strict anti-urbanization policy that aims to foster the development of rural areas and the suburban industrial districts in order to control urban growth and demographic mobility. All the regulatory master plans of Tirana, climate data of the city, the actual situation of the specific neighborhood, its orientation toward north, are considered in order to gather information and to implement the correct bioclimatic eco-renovation in the area. A special attention will be given to the underground tunnels which were constructed during the communist regime all over the city (1945–1983) as a response to a hypothetic nuclear attack, in order to shelter the inhabitance against bombing. These reinforced concrete tunnels will serve not only as an area for water collection and recycling strategies but also for cooling with zero energy expenditure for the inhabitants as a consequence of differences in temperature and air pressure. This strategy benefits from the underground air temperature in both seasons (winter and summer). It envisages the handover of these tunnels by the community. Nowadays, such structures are abandoned and denigrated. The realization of these structures required large amounts of money from the state budget. Considering that fact they need to be vitalized and reused, using different methodologies and strategies as part of the city. After the communist regime in the city of Tirana, two other regulatory plans were implemented which observe the city from another perspective, determining and evaluating Tirana’s real values as a city of the future, but not defining yet Tirana as an Ecocity. The ecological potential of Tirana including its outskirts is to be considered. Its flora and fauna are very rich, containing a mixt of species and plants. Regardless, the city of Tirana is suffering from different kinds of pollution such as air and noise pollution which are above EU and WHO norms. Tirana benefits from a Temperate Mediterranean climate. Furthermore, the benefits of the solar radiation are enormous. Unfortunately, nowadays, the city of Tirana is not profiting much from it. This chapter is in search of an overall view of the city of Tirana, and its great potential discovering its underground and upper ground historical secrets.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Architecture Studio unpublished Report, digital archive of Tirana Municipality, p 34
Albanian Climate; Tables, Vol.1; 1978. (In Albanian); Hydrometeorological Institute of Academy of sciences, Tirana, Albania
Aliaj B, Myftiu G, Lulo K (2003) Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development
Aliaj B (2003) Albania: A Short History of Housing and Urban Development Models During 1945–1999. In: Presented at the international conference on making cities work! Co-Plan Working Papers, pp 24–45
Aliaj B (2008) Misteri i gjashtë. ISBN 978-99956-676-0-3
Architecture and urban planning of dwellings during the period of the totalitarian regime 1945–1990
Askew T (1988) Original description: T. Askew in The Nautilus 102(3), 1988: A new species of Pleurotomariid Gastropod from the Western Atlantic
Baytas A (2007) A field guide to the butterflies of Turkey NTV Yayinlari: Istanbul. ISBN: 978–975–6690–79–6. 218, pp $28.50 at NABA Sales
Biberaj E (1990) Albania—a socialist maverick. Westview Press
Boeri S (2015) General local plan of Tirana 2030. Tirana
Branko I (2021) The use of landscape as a method of integrating informal settlements in Tirana. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65181-7_31
Bregu F (2008) Interview. Museum on the occurrence of animal species in the area
Bushati V (2012) Vilat e Tiranes, BotimeAfrojdit, ISBN: 978-9928-4054-3-2
Casagrande M (2010) Urban Acupuncture. University of Portsmouth
Corniello, Luigi; Giordano, Lorenzo
Dietz C, Von Helversen O, Nill D (2007) Hand book of the bats of Europe and northwestern Africa–biology, identification and conservation status]. Frankh-Kosmos, Stuttgart, p 399. ISBN 978-3-440-09693-2
Dojce E (2002) Property relations and urban space in albania before, during and after socialism: a case study on the city of pogradec, p 54
Gent Shkullaku/AFP., year 1985
Geological Laboratory, Tirana, Albania 2019
Gjoka E (2011) The Masterplan of Tirana. Sustainable architecture and urban design; magazine of sustainable design. ISSN: 2039-2656
Gloyer G (2004) Albania–the bradt travel guide. Bradt Travel Guies Ltd. UK
Grimshaw. Building Tirana's Green Future Competition, Design Report (2012) The municipality of Tirana for the master-plan of Tirana
Gruber U (1979) Patterns of relationship and ecology of Aegean Snakes.-Biol. Gallo Hellenica, Toulouse 8:345–348
Higgins LG, Riley ND (1970) A field guide to the butterflies of Britain and Europe. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, p 380
Hoxha E (2015) Arkitektura shqiptare e shekullit XX (një histori e shkurtër). ISBN 978-9928-199-87-4
Hyde R (2008) Bioclimatic housing, Innovative designs for warm climates. Earthscan UK, USA. ISBN: 978-1-84407-284-2
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6503323/Tirana date 11.05.2011 h 16.50
http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/tirana.html date 12.05.2011 h 09.30
http://www.tirana.gov.al/common/images/Statistical%20Bulletin%2006.pdf date 27.05.2011 h 12.45
http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101103com4.html date 03.05.2011 h 01.00
https://en.climatedata.org/europe/albania/tirana/tirana-714992/#climate-graph
Jacobs J (1961) The death and life of great American cities. Random House Inc., New York
Kolevica P (2004) Arkitektura dhe diktatura Botimi i dyte i plotësuar me shkrime e foto, Logoreci 2004, ISBN 99927-937-7-5
Kumanova X (2022) Interview
Macdonald D (2001) The encyclopedia of mammals. Barnes & Noble/Andromeda Oxford Ltd., Abingdon, UK
Manahasa OD (2008) Competing urban visions for the capital of Albania: international projects for Tirana city centre
Manual i preventivimit për punime ndërtesash dhe objektesh industriale 2, 1981–1985
Misja V, Misja A (2004) Vështrim mbi situatën e banesave në Shqipëri, analizë krahasuese; Akademia e shkencave të Shqipërise, Instituti i Ekonomisë. ISBN 99943-653-6-3.
Mulder EG (1956) Nitrogen-magnesium relationship in crop plants. Agricultural Experiment station and institute and soil research. T.N.O Groningen, the Netherlands
Naselli F, Jazaj E (2020) Tirana adaptive city. “Creativity and Spontaneity” in active-streets and living super-blocks
Naselli F (2021) Tirana-next: a complementary development strategy (and Consequent Urban Tactics) for the informal and historical urban fabrics within Tirana super blocs
Nepravishta F, Cuedari A, Maliqari A (2014) GrimShaw proposal for tirana river shore regeneration: survival of the waterfront
Nepravishta F (2003) Public private community partnership In: Making cities work. Co-plan, Tirana
Nöllert A, Nöllert C (1992) Die Amphibien Europas–Bestimmung, Gefährdung, Schutz. Kosmos, Stuttgart
Piotr L (2021) Cities of tomorrow-tomorrow of planning. Lessons for the Albanian Cities
Pllumbi D (2013) Mirroring Tirana: reflections on Tirana’s urban context and perspectives. Euro J Sustain Dev 2(4):73–84
Prato GB (2016) View of migrants and foreign residents: a comparative European perspective. In: Rial C, Vailati A (eds) Migration of rich immigrants. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp 179–198
Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC, 1997ed.)
Shqiptarja.com (2014) nr.287, online newspaper
The competition announcement, (2003) Digital archive of Tirana Municipality
The holotype is in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. USNM 859961
The survey of the Architectural and Vegetational Heritage in the Royal Park of Tirana in Albania (2020)
Tirana municipality (Tirana Outer Ring Road Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study). February 2006 Bernard Engineers|Brenner Engineers
Tirana municipality (2009) (Tirana Outer Ring Road Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study). February 2006 Bernard Engineers|Brenner Engineers, p 19
Top story-investigative program-Top Channel, Albanian television, 23.03.2022, time 9.30 PM
Tucker and Heath (1994) BirdLife International (Conservation Series No. 3). Cambridge, United Kingdom
Vokshi A (2021) Tirana in the crossroads: urban sprawl or natural resources
Waldheim C (2016) Landscape as urbanism. A general theory. ISBN: 9780691167909
Xhexhi K (2021) The impact of building materials in inhabitance lifestyle, case of Kruja, Albania. ISBN 9781639028627
Acknowledgement
Figure 2.1 Reproduced from “Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “B. Aliaj”
Figure 2.2 Reproduced from “Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “B. Aliaj”
Figure 2.3 Reproduced from “Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “B. Aliaj”
Figure 2.4 Reproduced from “Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “B. Aliaj”
Figure 2.5 Reproduced from “Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “B. Aliaj”
Figure 2.6b Reproduced from “Tirana, The challenge of Urban Development” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “B. Aliaj”
Figure 2.14 Reproduced from “Bioclimatic housing, Innovative designs for warm climates” by Klodjan Xhexhi, with permission from “R. Hyde”
Table 2.1 Reproduced form “https://en.climate data.org/europe/albania/tirana/tirana-714992/#climate-graph” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Climate data.org” (Free access)
Figure 2.15 Reproduced form “https://en.climate data.org/europe/albania/tirana/tirana-714992/#climate-graph” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Climate data.org” (Free access)
Figure 2.17a, b Reproduced form “Albanian Climate” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Hydro meteorological Institute of Academy of sciences, Tirana, Albania.” (Free access)
Figure 2.18a,b Reproduced form “http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/tirana.html” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Gaisma” (Free access)
Table 2.2 Reproduced form “http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/tirana.html” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Gaisma” (Free access)
Figure 2.24a Reproduced form “National Environment Agency” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “National Environment Agency” (Free access)
Table 2.4 Reproduced form “Environmental report, Albania” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “The World Bank” (Free access)
Table 2.5 Reproduced form “Geological Laboratory, Tirana” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Geological Laboratory” (Free access)
Figure 2.28 Reproduced form “Shqiptarja.com (daily online newspaper)” by Klodjan Xhexhi with permission from “Shqiptarja.com (daily online newspaper)” (Free access)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Xhexhi, K. (2023). Tirana, the Capital of Albania. A Brief History of Regulatory Plans, Anti-Bombing Hideouts, and Its Climate Conditions. In: Ecovillages and Ecocities. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20959-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20959-8_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20958-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20959-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)