Place Attachment in a Tirana Neighborhood: The Influence of the “Rebirth of the City” Project

Abstract

This paper studies the environmental behavior of Tirana dwellers in a former socialist period neighborhood which has been the subject of a project called the "Rebirth of the City". This project was an undertaking of the municipality of Tirana, the capital city of Albania, and had as its goals to stabilize the urban chaos and clean the informal constructions by treating the neighborhoods with colorful artwork. The neighborhoods within this research are treated as a concept formed by housing blocks and public spaces. The aim of the research is to understand the relationship of the dwellers and their place attachment to the neighborhood during the socialist and post-socialist period. This study will be conducted through the method of observation and questionnaire. At the end of the study, it is expected to find out how the "Rebirth of the City" project impacted the dwellers' relationship with their neighborhood. In particular, whether or not this renovation project influenced dwellers' place attachment will be examined. The role of place attachment as a concept in this relation will be also brought into consideration.

A hierarchical definitional framework for a heterogeneous context: housing typologies in Tirana, Albania

“…The decision to make Tirana the capital in 1920 was a turning point in destiny and, consequently, in the city's urban development. Before proclaiming a capital city, it was a typical Ottoman town characterized by organic urban development (Manahasa and Özsoy, 2017). The urban pattern of the city is generally featured by tile-roofed covered housing developed in a spontaneous individual way.…”

“…The dwellers placed in these apartment blocks belonged to low social class. However, even university lecturers would work (Dervishi, 2014; as mentioned in Manahasa, 2017).…”

“…The silica brick housing typology started to be constructed in 1968. According to Vaso (Manahasa, 2017), it was used due to a higher production precision than red brick, providing a more aesthetical building appearance. This tectonic quality of the silica brick plays a decisive role in defining it as a housing typology.…”

“…It caused the inner city to be densified with housing structures. It deteriorated the dwelling comfort of the urban built environment (Manahasa and Özsoy, 2017).…”

Place Attachment in Seven Areas of Tirana, Albania

“…Tirana is the present capital and prime city of Albania (Dhamo, 2014;Dhamo et al, 2016;Manahasa & Özsoy, 2017 At the beginning of the 1990s, the fall of the communist regime and the vacuum left thereafter was the starting point for a wild process of uncontrolled urbanization (Aliaj et al, 2003;Pojani, 2010). The change of socio-economic situa-…”