Industry 4.0
Vol. 11 (2026), Issue 4, pg(s) 199-203

SOCIETY & ”INDUSTRY 4.0”

Contemporary Architecture and Urban Identity in a Rapidly Transforming City: The Case of Tirana

  • 1 European University of Tirana, Albania

Abstract

Contemporary architecture is crucial for post-socialist urban identity formation of cities in transition, and in particular of Tirana. During the last thirty years, the city has undergone a transition from the centralized socialist model into diverse, complex and ambivalent metropolitan space. This research examines the relationships between contemporary architecture and urban identity formation in Tirana using a mixed-methods approach, incorporating qualitative spatial analysis and quantitative data based on the citizens’ perceptions analysis. The qualitative analysis explores three main urban interventions (Skanderbeg Square, the Pyramid of Tirana, the “Deshmoret e Kombit” Boulevard), and the quantitative analysis is based on the survey findings. The results suggest that Tirana‘s urban identity has become increasingly hybrid, through interaction of historical layers and global modern influences, and continues to develop new identities. But it is in tension with the forces that seek to preserve existing sources of urban identity and to modernise the city. This research increases the discussion on post-socialist cities and proposes an analytical framework of three perspectives, based on citizens’ perceptions [7], [10], [14].

Keywords

References

  1. K. Lynch, The Image of the City (MIT Press, Cambridge, 1960).
  2. A. Rossi, The Architecture of the City (MIT Press, Cambridge, 1982).
  3. E. Relph, Place and Placelessness (Pion, London, 1976).
  4. Y.-F. Tuan, Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1977).
  5. H. Lefebvre, The Production of Space (Blackwell, Oxford, 1991).
  6. D. Harvey, Spaces of Capital: Towards a Critical Geography (Routledge, London, 2001).
  7. K. Stanilov (Ed.), The Post-Socialist City: Urban Form and Space Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe after Socialism (Springer, Dordrecht, 2007).
  8. S. Hirt, Iron Curtains: Gates, Suburbs and Privatization of Space in the Post-Socialist City (Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, 2012).
  9. S. Tsenkova, “Urban planning and informal cities in post-socialist contexts,” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 35, 292–305 (2011).
  10. L. Sýkora, S. Bouzarovski, “Multiple transformations: Conceptualising the post-communist urban transition,” Urban Studies 49, 43–60 (2012).
  11. M. Carmona, Public Places, Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design (Routledge, London, 2010).
  12. J. Gehl, Cities for People (Island Press, Washington DC, 2010).
  13. A. Madanipour, Cities in Time: Temporary Urbanism and the Future of the City (Bloomsbury, London, 2018).
  14. T. Nilsson, “Post-socialist urban transformation and identity in Southeast European cities,” Urban Research & Practice 13, 245–262 (2020).
  15. S. Zukin, The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy (Oxford University Press, New York, 2020).
  16. E. Gualini, “Planning and conflict in the post-socialist city,” European Planning Studies 27, 1123–1140 (2019).
  17. UN-Habitat, World Cities Report 2022: Envisaging the Future of Cities (UN-Habitat, Nairobi, 2022).
  18. OECD, Urban Development in Albania (OECD Publishing, Paris, 2023).

Article full text

Download PDF