Albanian Cities Research Articles

The blatant phenomenon of 'election-driven legalization of informality'

Informal construction has been rife in Albanian cities since the fall of communism in 1990. This study investigates the fluctuations in the housing legalization process in conjunction with national and local elections in Albania from 2008 to 2021. Government revenues from legalization fees are used as a proxy for the pace of the legalization process. The key finding is that the legalization of informal buildings intensifies prior to an election and drops afterwards, suggesting that the process is politically driven. This phenomenon is termed Election-Driven Legalization of Informality (EDLI) and is part and parcel of the shadow economy in urban Albania. In combination with another phenomenon known as Election-Driven Informality (EDI), EDLI produces a vicious circle. First, informal construction is enabled or tolerated before an election to curry favor with voters; that is EDI at work. Then, EDLI comes into play: before the next election, the informal buildings are legalized in a rush, again for the purpose of garnering voter support. These practices, which are perpetrated by both sides of the political spectrum, are both unethical and unsustainable.

Meaning and Symbolism of Industrial Architecture in Albania

Industrial architecture represents the evolution of technology, the growth of industry and the presence of new urban forms in the context of the city. The Albanian industrial history dates back to 19th century. The country’s industrial sector has experienced significant growth and transformation particularly during the socialist period from 1945 to 1990. Industrial facilities and complexes built over 50 years impacted the urban and social development of Albanian cities. Their architecture is characterized by a mix of different styles, including socialist realism and functionalism. These styles reflect the political, social, and economic history of Albania. The buildings, which include factories, mines, and power plants, are scattered throughout the country and their symbolism is multifaceted. They represent Albania’s aspirations to modernize society and build socialism. Moreover, industrial architecture in Albania has been the subject of different approaches and attitudes. Some argue for its preservation as part of the country’s cultural heritage, while others advocate its demolition and replacement with more modern structures. In this context, this paper investigates the meaning and symbolism of industrial architecture in Albania and its impact on the country’s identity and cultural landscape, referring to the city of Tirana. Industrial architecture in Albania plays a significant role in the country’s cultural landscape and identity. Its symbolism is complex and multifaceted, representing both the achievements and the challenges of Albania’s industrial past, as well as the communist doctrine. As Albania continues to evolve and modernize, the preservation and interpretation of its industrial heritage will remain a crucial issue for its people and policymakers.

Female Entrepreneurs and Motivational Factors

Purpose: The main aim of this research is to investigate and analyze, the impact of motivational factors on female entrepreneurship. This research intends to explore in-depth the motivating factors of female entrepreneurs, with a focus on Albania.
 
 Theoretical framework: The literature on entrepreneurship, global trends in women’s entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurship in Albania, and female motivation factors is studied, and it is the focus and is used to better understand the push and pull motivation factors of female entrepreneurs.
 
 Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used in this study consists of quantitative methods. Based on the literature review in our understanding, a questionnaire was set up and was carried out to collect the data. It included several from the five-point Likert scale. The population of the study consisted of a final sample of 494 female entrepreneurs, from different Albanian cities. The hypothesis was developed in response to the research question. Regression analysis is used to empirically evaluate the hypothesis using SPSS, version 23.
 
 Findings: The results of the study, show that being independent, working on scarce jobs, and working from home are the main motivational factors that positively correlate with women entrepreneurs' performance. At the country level, we find evidence that motivational factors encourage females to run their businesses, promoting development opportunities for female entrepreneurs. The conclusions are well supported by the data. Females are more inclined to start and go on their businesses. It is the best way to be independent, to have a job on a scarce time, and to work from home.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implications - The paper gives some novel insights into the motivation factors and helps to fill the gap in the literature on this topic. It will serve as a model for female entrepreneurs in developing and less developed countries. It will be full of interest and useful to females, business communities, academics, and policymakers. From an academic perspective, the findings demonstrated that factors influencing motivation play a significant role in encouraging women entrepreneurs to achieve success. This research contributes to the limited knowledge of motivational factors in developing countries, such as Albania.
 
 Originality/value: The originality of this paper is the new approach in Albania regarding motivational factors that influence the performance of female entrepreneurs by adding evidence to this, which may be implied for further research in the future.

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Purpose: The main aim of this research is to investigate and analyze, the impact of motivational factors on female entrepreneurship. This research intends to explore in-depth the motivating factors of female entrepreneurs, with a focus on Albania. Theoretical framework: The literature on entrepreneurship, global trends in women’s entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurship in Albania, and female motivation factors is studied, and it is the focus and is used to better understand the push and pull motivation factors of female entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology used in this study consists of quantitative methods. Based on the literature review in our understanding, a questionnaire was set up and was carried out to collect the data. It included several from the five-point Likert scale. The population of the study consisted of a final sample of 494 female entrepreneurs, from different Albanian cities. The hypothesis was developed in response to the research question. Regression analysis is used to empirically evaluate the hypothesis using SPSS, version 23. Findings: The results of the study, show that being independent, working on scarce jobs, and working from home are the main motivational factors that positively correlate with women entrepreneurs' performance. At the country level, we find evidence that motivational factors encourage females to run their businesses, promoting development opportunities for female entrepreneurs. The conclusions are well supported by the data. Females are more inclined to start and go on their businesses. It is the best way to be independent, to have a job on a scarce time, and to work from home. Research, Practical & Social Implications - The paper gives some novel insights into the motivation factors and helps to fill the gap in the literature on this topic. It will serve as a model for female entrepreneurs in developing and less developed countries. It will be full of interest and useful to females, business communities, academics, and policymakers. From an academic perspective, the findings demonstrated that factors influencing motivation play a significant role in encouraging women entrepreneurs to achieve success. This research contributes to the limited knowledge of motivational factors in developing countries, such as Albania. Originality/value: The originality of this paper is the new approach in Albania regarding motivational factors that influence the performance of female entrepreneurs by adding evidence to this, which may be implied for further research in the future.

Some smart solutions towards rapid urbanization in Albanian cities

Some smart solutions towards rapid urbanization in Albanian cities

Air Pollution and Socio-Economic Determinants of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Albania.

Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a global issue. The Global Burden of Disease Study reports a prevalence of 251 million cases of COPD in 2016, while it is estimated that 3.17 million deaths were caused by the disease during that period. In this paper we conduct an ecological study, to analyze the effects of socio-economic factors and air pollution on the COPD prevalence at the population level in Albania. Methods. Group-level data from 61 municipalities in Albania was used to assess the relationship between environmental exposures, living conditions, and socioeconomic factors with the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Results. The regression analysis shows that for every percent increase in the concentration of PM2.5 in Albanian cities, a 32% increase in the prevalence of COPD was observed. Similarly, there was an increase in COPD prevalence associated with the increase of the urban population and the number of vehicles registered per city. It is worth mentioning that no statistically significant relationship was observed between the prevalence of COPD, smoking levels, and the Poverty Index. Conclusions. Within the limitations of an ecological analysis, these findings support an association between the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and environmental exposures, socioeconomic factors, and living conditions. However, there is a call to more individual-level analysis and more in-depth research to further investigate the extent of this association in Albania.

Albania’s urban and territorial dimension was a product of the savage communist past and the difficult transition of the country

Albania of the fourth decade of transition presents a series of problems related to the urban and territorial development. This paper analyzes the initial causes of urban and territorial problems, which are correlated to the savage communist past and beginnings of the political and economic transition of the country. At the end of the communist regime, Albania was one of the countries of the socialist camp with the highest level of implementation of the ideology, principles and practices of Stalinist socialism, which made the Albanian political transition very difficult. Lack of democratic heritage, high level of indoctrination of society and especially the ruling elite of the transition, were the main reasons for this delay. The economic transition of the country also presented a strong challenge. The central planning economy, in the last years of its implementation, would fail in many respects. This would bring, not only an extreme poverty of Albanian families in the moments of transition, but also a real lack of economic activities, which in a private management could bring more employment to the population in the future. This general context of the transition would reflect the same difficulties in the transition of territorial governance, as an integral part of the transition as a whole. The liberal and democratization reforms pursued in the early years would include land ownership, buildings, housing, urban planning and development processes. As a consequent, the country has experienced a high decline in the resident population, as a result of foreign emigration. But what influenced the strong changes of the urban, territorial and spatial dimension of the country, was internal migration. This massive internal migration would reshape the territorial model of population distribution across national territory, the spatial structure of the inhabited centers and the urban quality of life in Albanian cities. There are four most important preconditions that would produce this massive internal migration, which originate from the savage communist past and the political and economic transition reforms: the inability of the territorial government to understand its new role in urban and territorial issues; the decline of basic public services (education, health) as a result of the departure of ‘nominees’ from the party-state in cities different from those of their origin; loss of employment of citizens in state-owned, bankrupt, closed or in-the-process–of-privatization enterprises; free movement of citizens and freedom to choose residence. Two would be the main financiers of this construction development that shaped the urban and territorial model of the country, which originate from the political and economic transition reforms: income provided by interaction in the free market of real estate from citizens who had privatized state-owned housing in their use; remittances provided in emigration, after allowing the free movement of citizens outside the national territory.

The Aftermath of Human Trafficking: Exploring the Albanian Victims’ Return, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration Challenges

ABSTRACT Since the collapse of communism in the 1990s, Albanian women and children have been increasingly trafficked in countries across Europe. While extensive literature addresses the organizational structure and the factors making human trafficking thrive, the experiences of victims of human trafficking upon their return to their home countries is a commonly under-represented concern. This article addresses the present gap in research by exploring the rehabilitation and reintegration challenges faced by Albanian victims of sex trafficking and forced begging upon their return to Albania, as reflected by 15 professionals providing direct assistance to the victims. The fieldwork was conducted in three Albanian cities and all four organizations responsible for the rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficking victims in Albania participated in the study. Data from the interviews with practitioners indicate that most victims returned involuntarily to Albania. During the rehabilitation and reintegration process, victims encountered numerous challenges on individual, familial, social, economic, legal, and institutional levels. Findings suggest that following their return to Albania, victims are perplexed regarding their self-identity, face health problems, criminal prosecutions, familial exclusion, and stigmatization, and lack support in gaining economic independence, feeling safe, and accessing justice.

The Urban Dimension of the Albanian Cities of Transition Was Damaged as a Result of the ‘Big Government’ and Not Its Absence: An Assessment in Relation to the Construction Permit!

Abstract The main Albanian cities and inhabited centers have suffered great damage of urban and environmental dimension in the years of transition. These implications of rapid and intensive development have produced cities that offer a very low quality of urban life to their citizens. What requires immediate political and legal intervention is to create the preconditions for Albanian cities to change by improving their potential in relation to the quality of urban life they offer to their citizens. One of the basic aspects, where this political goal can be achieved, is the function of controlling the construction development in these cities, in other words the function of building permits. Formal construction, or construction that has been subject to political-administrative decision-making, has faced increased pressure from the government to obtain a building permit. The performance of the government, regarding the function of construction permitting, is presented as very bureaucratic and corrupt. The technical, administrative and legal rules through which the administration exercises in the construction permit process have been very difficult for private entrepreneurs to implement. This has produced, firstly, the phenomenon of informal construction, and secondly, the change in the focus of entrepreneurs in the formal construction sector. In great administrative difficulties and obstacles, private entrepreneurs have shifted their focus from the aim of offering high quality products and low price in the market, to the goal of obtaining a building permit while ignoring the quality of the buildings they have developed. In this sense, what is required is the facilitation of technical, administrative and legal procedures and rules for obtaining a construction permit, which would ensure the reduction of the informal sector and refocus of the formal sector on quality and competitive price in a free market. This is a basic precondition for the situation of cities not to deteriorate further, and that paves the way for the improvement of their situation in the future.

The transition of housing in Albania and the role of adopted practices. Dynamics of social integration in differentiated urban contexts

This article aims to investigate the transition of housing in Albania from a centrally planned to a free-market economy, by studying practices adopted in housing production. The main argument is that, despite differentiations in urban dynamics, housing sector plays an important role in social integration processes in the post-socialist context and, at the same time, poses crucial questions about the future of Albanian cities.

Screening for mild cognitive impairment among older Albanian patients by clinical pharmacists.

To assess the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and its correlated factors among elderly Albanian patients using different screening tools applied by clinical pharmacists. Patients aged 60 years old or more from two primary care centers located in two Albanian cities were included in the study. Two clinical pharmacists applied the MoCA/MoCA B (Montreal Cognitive Assessment/Basic) and the Mini-Cog in Albanian. A predictive multivariate logistic regression analysis and Kappa statistic were conducted. The prevalence of MCI using MoCA/MoCA B and Mini-Cog scales was 75.73 and 20.39%, respectively. There was a poor degree of agreement between them (Kappa 2.38). Older men had an increased risk of MCI. The involvement of clinical pharmacists in screening for MCI might help in selecting vulnerable individuals for more specialized examination. The MoCA/MoCA B tool is recommended for higher sensitivity.

The Effective Management of Organic Waste Policy in Albania

Following a recycling or continuous recycling process, there is always waste with no material or market value that can be converted into energy or other fossil fuel substitutes. The present study aimed to evaluate the management of organic waste policy and to predict the trend of organic waste generation in Albania. The research used an appropriate Box–Jenkins Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) to determine the quantification of organic waste to be generated. The main results obtained can support the decision-making process in the planning, change and short-term implementation of organic waste management, and the information provided is very useful in collecting, transporting, storing and managing waste in Albanian cities (Tirana, Durrës, Kukës, Berat, Shkodra, Dibër, Gjirokastër and Elbasan). Furthermore, the high percentage of the organic waste generation until 2025 constitutes good premises to raising public awareness related to their energy recovery.

BAPEN Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool in Adults in the City of Vlora, Albania

Malnutrition, in all its forms, is a global problem and continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing our generation. ‘MUST’ is a five-step screening tool to identify adults, who are malnourished, at risk of malnutrition (undernutrition), or obese. Purpose: Evaluation of BMI, malnutrition and percentage of weight loss in the city of Vlora, Albania. Methodology: This is an exploratory study, carried out in the city of Vlora during May 20 - June 20, 2020, using the ‘MUST’ since data such as: height, weight and weight before 3-6 months, was obtained through the AFQPHALS Survey (Adult Food Quality and Physical Activity Level Survey), which was distributed online on social networks during May 17- 27, 2020 and completed by 545 adult subjects 18 years and older, including some Albanian cities with the predominance of the city of Vlora. Results & conclusions: Vlora constitute 55% part of the study sample; women 75%; with higher education 45% and master's degree 29%; full-time employees 38% and students 35%; 24% overweight, 9% obesity and 8% underweight; 73% has low risk, 16% has medium risk and 11% has high risk for malnutrition; 73% has not lost weight (0%). The high risk for malnutrition prevails in gender female, at higher education and master's level in students and full-time employees. Recommendations: Recognition and use of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool by the community, that is a free tool, easy and accessible for all to know and reduce malnutrition.

BAPEN Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool in Adults in the City of Vlora, Albania

Introduction: Malnutrition, in all its forms, is a global problem and continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing our generation. ‘MUST’ is a five-step screening tool to identify adults, who are malnourished, at risk of malnutrition (undernutrition), or obese. Purpose: Evaluation of BMI, malnutrition and percentage of weight loss in the city of Vlora, Albania. Methodology: This is an exploratory study, carried out in the city of Vlora during May 20 - June 20, 2020, using the ‘MUST’ since data such as: height, weight and weight before 3-6 months, was obtained through the AFQPHALS Survey (Adult Food Quality and Physical Activity Level Survey), which was distributed online on social networks during May 17- 27, 2020 and completed by 545 adult subjects 18 years and older, including some Albanian cities with the predominance of the city of Vlora. Results & conclusions: Vlora constitute 55% part of the study sample; women 75%; with higher education 45% and master's degree 29%; full-time employees 38% and students 35%; 24% overweight, 9% obesity and 8% underweight; 73% has low risk, 16% has medium risk and 11% has high risk for malnutrition; 73% has not lost weight (0%). The high risk for malnutrition prevails in gender female, at higher education and master's level in students and full-time employees. Recommendations: Recognition and use of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool by the community, that is a free tool, easy and accessible for all to know and reduce malnutrition.

Overview of the Usage of Some Turkicisms from Albanian Language Students at the University of Prizren “Ukshin Hoti” in Prizren

The Albanian language, as well as the other Balkan languages, have received a large number of Turkish language elements, first of them being the acceptance of Turkish words. These words, respectively the Turkicisms, have penetrated in almost all spheres in the fields of social life. In Albanian, there are many words in these social spheres: religious spheres, administrative spheres, military spheres, crafts, construction, home environment, names etc. The historical and linguistic conditions of the borrowing of Turkicisms are known. Albanians and Turks (Ottomans) got into contact in the wars and battles between them, as well as during the reign of the Turkish Empire in the Balkan Peninsula, and in the Albanian territories as well. Turkicisms began to enter the Albanian language from the time the Turks deployed military officers and clerks in several Albanian cities. The ruling period of the foreign invaders and the typology of the communicating languages had a huge influence on linguistic borrowings. The Albanian language is typologically quite remote from Turkish and has therefore assumed relatively few Turkicisms compared to the long period of Turkish rule in the Albanian area. For this purpose, this research and analysis method has been used: A survey was carried out with 60 students of the Department of Albanian Language and Literature at the University of Prizren "Ukshin Hoti" in Prizren, with first year students of the second semester and with second year students of the second semester. In the analysis of the tests, graphical presentations of the use of some Turkish words (Turkicisms) have been created, which are used by students in conversations with each other, in the family and in society, in the city and around Prizren.

Literary Patronage of the Albanian Vlora Dynastic Family, 1670-1764

The powerful Albanian Vlora dynastic family, during the 17th and 18th century built a cultural and literary patronage system, which was inherited from one generation to the next. This hereditary patronage reflected both, the features of the time and the personality of the powerful members of this family. Hysen Pasha Vlora (d. 1672) demonstrated a new perspective of urban life; he oriented the urban elite towards a new cultural model, which offered strong links with the public, but outside the umbrella of religious institutions. His son Mahmut Pasha (d. 1738), reflected his benevolent nature in his relations with poets. He contributed to the installation of the professional poet’s status and the development of a court literature in Albanian language. After him, Ismail Pasha Vlora (Velabishti, d. 1764), being a poet himself, manifested a higher sensitivity to the literary environment and to the Albanian language in particular. He took on the role of the moderator in the public and cultural life in the city of Berat. This attention and support from the Vlora dynastic family towards writers and poets in particular, caused Berat to be differentiated from other Albanian cities of the time. Just like that Berat was transformed into the most important literary center of the Albanians during the 18th century. When Vlora family ruled in Berat, the Albanian literature knew great poets like Nezim Berati, followed by Sulejman Naibi. Apart from them, there were other numerous poets, such as Fejzi, Irzi, or Ismail Pasha and Ahmet Kurt Pasha themselves.

Amphibious Devices / Interventions that adapt to land and water in the protected area of Bask-Rrjoll, Shkodra

Albania went through an unprecedented population movement that followed the change of regime after 1990. A movement that manifested itself both internally and internationally, it had a huge impact on Albanian cities and territory. What is known today commonly as the informal settlements, those buildings came as a result of lack of control by the local authorities which were unable to either stop or direct development and the need for housing that followed the movement. This meant that the landscape and territory suddenly became overrun by self-built homes or business that changed the urban, rural and natural landscape. Many of these developments where pulled by the western cost which offered the possibility for a quick return in tourism. The protected landscape of Bune-Velipoja and in particular the area of Bask-Rjoll have become a hotspot also for the agricultural possibilities offered, thus starting the first settlements that would go and change the landscape itself. The result of human behavior and interaction in landscape has caused damage to its biodiversity and flora and fauna. By understanding how the population movement have affected the settling and quality of the landscape, the aim of this paper is to propose seemingly disconnected interventions that aim at preserving landscape, flood resilience, coastal erosion prevention and emphasizing the qualities of the landscape in order to re-evaluate the landscape as a touristic attraction. By including communities and giving them a sense of belonging to the landscape these preservations processes can become regenerative tools.

Gli edifici ecclesiastici di Phoinike e del suo territorio tra tarda Antichità e Medioevo

Last season of excavation in Phoinike (Albania) helped to better define the chronology and plan of the late antique basilica inserted in a wider Bishop complex. In the meantime a new ecclesiastical building was found on the top of the hill close to the 'Laurus Nobilis'. This church was built during the 7th c. and abandoned in the late 15th century, when the city of Phonike was already controlled by the Sultan of Epirus. It is a church square with a central apse and three small aisles, preceded by a rectangular vestibule. In the second phase, the building was restricted to two aisles. Around the ecclesiastical complex was settled a large cemetery. Some architectural elements, found in the collapsing layers, show an interior decoration made up of limestone capitals and pulvini sculpted by local craftsman. The church sets and reuses the structures of an imposing Stoà, located in one of the most prestigious areas of the city. In this paper we will try to frame the phenomenon of transformation of Albanian cities in an attempt to verify the data collected at Phoinike in a wider regional context, both in terms of new religious structures and other aspects of medieval topography.

Building Partnerships for Social Housing: Growing Housing Needs and Effective Solutions for Albanian Cities

Building Partnerships for Social Housing: Growing Housing Needs and Effective Solutions for Albanian Cities

Planning and Financing Services in the City Through Land Value Capture Instruments the Case of Tirana New Bazar

Objective: This paper comes as a contribution to the discussion happening in Albania related to limited funding sources for providing urban services, especially at the city level. It aims to bring some ideas on how to finance the new services that the Albanian cities need outside general budgets, or avoiding the accumulation of additional debt for local governments (LGs). Methodology: The approach suggested in the paper is to first identify the beneficiaries of any proposed improvement in providing both facilities and services, and then explore methods, which can involve the direct beneficiaries paying for their part of the benefits. The paper focuses on analyzing and reflecting upon the experience of the Municipality of Tirana for building up/refurbishing the city new bazar, and uses this as a case study to discuss on potential financing of facilities and urban services through land value capture gains, and relevant social implications in the Albanian society. Results: A value based property tax should be introduced first in Albania, not only as the instrument that can guarantee real local autonomy, but also as a precondition for applying other land value capture instruments. To mention some of the most applied ones that could also be explored in the broad Albanian context: betterment charges/fees; tax on the increment on the value of land; inclusionary housing, land assembling and land readjusting, and tradable development rights. For all of them, a substantial revision in the fiscal/public finances legislation is needed in Albania, given the fact that the relevant planning and development of territory legislation has already introduced such instruments. But above all, and what is most important, the social implications of the proposed instruments should be further researched and addressed through appropriate regulations and processes. Conclusion: Through this paper I try to demonstrate the implications of planning and financing services in the cities through land value capture instruments in the context of Albanian cities and society. Being that investments on urban services and facilities are accompanied by increases in land value, it has the features for recovering the capital costs of urban investment, by capturing some or all of the “unearned” increment in land value resulting from the investment. To accomplish this, ‘novel’ financing mechanisms should be used – such as land value capture instruments (betterment fees, special taxes, development agreements, etc.), but their implications in terms of improving the social fabric in the cities should be considered.