Tiranas Weg ins 21. Jahrhundert. Vom Latecomer der Urbanisierung zum Newcomer im Postkommunismus
Tirana’s Way into the 21st Century. From a Latecomer of Urbanisation to a Newcomer during Post-socialism

Summary/Abstract: Tirana is a young settlement. Basically, urbanisation has reached Albania late, as the country was completely isolated during the socialist period. In spite of this delay, Tirana nowadays is a capital with a wide range of recent developments and one of the leading cities in the Balkans. First and foremost the article discusses Tirana’s way into the 21st century from a historical point of view. Analyses focus on the problems which arise from the fact that Tirana has been one of the fastest growing cities worldwide during the last few years: The number of inhabitants has nearly tripled within the last two decades. Squatting becomes more and more frequent and includes housing in the suburban fringe, marginal settlements in former industrial areas as well as so-called rich informal developments inside the urban area. Both the scale and the pace of the changes within the urban area appear rather impressive. This comprises the growth of the suburban fringe as well as the densification within the city that is characterised e.g. by an increase in high buildings. In many cases urban planning is done subsequently, and sometimes political dispute rises to an extent that approaches informality.

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