Cities Tirana

TIRANA

A city in transition

'The New Urban Plan 2030 is an expression of the future of a polycentric and kaleidoscopic metropolis, which is to accommodate a rediscovered balance between city and nature.

— Stefano Boeri Architetti

Undiscovered, economical, and trendy: Albania is booming. You can tell this from the level of tourism as well as its urban development. The Italian architect Stefano Boeri is giving the capital a complete makeover in Tirana’s New Urban Plan 2030. What’s more, the plan has a Belgian connection with the Brussels architectural firm 51N4E.

Key points of The New Urban Plan 2030

— Biodiversity — Polycentrism — Mobility — Water — Tourism — Accessibility — Agriculture — Energy

Tirana, which has been the capital of Albania since 1920, is located between the Tiranë and Lanë rivers. It is the result of a political compromise between the north and the south. For whereas Tirana initially had just 10,845 inhabitants, it would later surpass the other Albanian cities with 900,000 inhabitants. Today’s city has been deeply marked by the long Communist influence. This is particularly noticeable in its chaotic architectural mix. As a city with Roman, Byzantine, Mediterranean, Communist, and anarchic influences, Tirana is in constant flux.

— Time for action Once Europe’s poorest country, Albania’s economy is now in recovery. Prime Minister Edi Rama wants to transform Tirana and the Albanian coast into veritable tourist hotspots. Before the Corona crisis, Albania was visited by six million tourists every year, representing some 9 percent of the economy. Pushing that figure even higher will require some serious plans for the future And they exist! The New Urban Plan 2030 will give Tirana a total makeover. It will get a brandnew international airport, a high-speed rail link to the downtown area, and a sea terminal. The public spaces will also benefit from a thorough overhaul with a focus on greenery. — New Urban Plan 2030 The country’s recent town-planning and architectural developments all form part of the New Urban Plan 2030. They represent an essential part of a broader transition. Albania wants to join the European Union as soon as possible; the New Urban Plan 2030 will help to bring this ambition a good deal closer. The Italian architect Stefano Boeri is the mastermind behind the plan. He aims to bring together culture, society, and geopolitics to give Tirana a sustainable future. For instance, a forest consisting of two million new trees is to surround the city to prevent urban sprawl. The plan also includes a tripling of the green space in the downtown area, two green rings suitable for walking and cycling, and a large natural oasis on the Farka Lake.

51N4E

The Belgian architectural firm was established in 1998 by Johan Anrys, Freek Persyn, and Peter Swinnen. You probably know them from projects such as Lamot (2005), TID Tower Tirana (2004), C-Mine (2006), and the Fly-Over (2019). 51N4E represents Brussels’ geographical coordinates, as a nod to the office’s location.

— The Brussels touch In 2018, the architectural firm 51N4E won the European Prize for Urban Public Space for the reconstruction of Tirana’s Skanderberg Square. The square was constructed in 1930 and attracted many crowds thanks to the nearby symbolic buildings such as the opera house, the national museum, and the National Bank. The Belgians turned the over 170 m2 square into a traffic-free zone, creating a kind of “clearing in the midst of the city’s chaos.” In fact, thanks to the clearing, the new greenery, and the slope, the square has taken on an imposing and monumental appearance. A nice fact about the project is that the reconstruction involved used stones from the various reaches of Albania.

European Prize for Urban Public Space

This bi-annual competition serves to highlight European projects that create, restore, or improve public spaces. The renovation of Skanderbeg Square was awarded first prize in 2018.

— Plans for the future Although the extensive TR2030 plan has already given rise to several new projects in Tirana, including the reconstruction of Skanderberg Square, there’s more to come. Twenty new public schools will be built, and many other architectural treasures are still in the pipeline. Besides developing the master plan, Stefano Boeri also designed the Vertical Forest building. This building will have three green facades accommodating more than 3,200 shrubs and 145 trees. The Vertical Forest will create more than 550 m2 of new green space, increasing the city’s biodiversity and contributing to a new urban ecosystem.