Regenerating in-between spaces in Tirana
Basic information
Project Title
Regenerating in-between spaces in Tirana
Full project title
Bringing together community, private sector and local government to improve left-out public spaces.
Category
Regaining a sense of belonging
Project Description
Tirana has an acute shortage of quality open space in neighborhoods. At 1.4m2 per person, Tirana far underperforms in comparison with the European average of park space. The open spaces that do exist, like large open courtyards, are often overrun with parked cars. The idea is to transform unused empty public lots to healthy and playful areas that encourage cross-generational interaction and enhance children’s development, by including community, local government and the private sector.
Geographical Scope
Local
Project Region
Tirana, Albania
Urban or rural issues
Mainly urban
Physical or other transformations
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
EU Programme or fund
No
Description of the project
Summary
The challenge for Tirana is to innovate new ways to deliver quality outdoor space inside neighborhoods, despite the severe land constraints, which is able to scale across the city and actively address inequity in access to public amenities. These spaces are close to where people live, distributed in every neighbourhood.
A core challenge that needs to be further addressed is a lack of data monitoring and evaluation systems and capacity within the city administration that can help improve decision making, allocation of public funds, as well as program improvement over time. Tirana has built one roughly playground per month for the last six years, injecting a large amount of play space into the city. Challenges with maintenance and performance still exist with the playgrounds, and generational appeal. We believe that public spaces can continue to offer more to caregivers as well as function more actively as climate-resilient pockets in the city.
We focus our solution on adopting design solutions and evidence from previous successful local and regional projects. A pathway that can ignite the desired change and transformation in the city of Tirana is to continue on the path previously paved by the policymakers and NGOs that follow Urban95 guidelines.
In these past years Tirana has built a small network of safe walking spaces at different schools via trade-offs such as: swapping street parking places for cycle-ways and protected walking spaces. Other initiatives include the transformation of empty lots in neighborhoods into pocket parks and playgrounds.
A core challenge that needs to be further addressed is a lack of data monitoring and evaluation systems and capacity within the city administration that can help improve decision making, allocation of public funds, as well as program improvement over time. Tirana has built one roughly playground per month for the last six years, injecting a large amount of play space into the city. Challenges with maintenance and performance still exist with the playgrounds, and generational appeal. We believe that public spaces can continue to offer more to caregivers as well as function more actively as climate-resilient pockets in the city.
We focus our solution on adopting design solutions and evidence from previous successful local and regional projects. A pathway that can ignite the desired change and transformation in the city of Tirana is to continue on the path previously paved by the policymakers and NGOs that follow Urban95 guidelines.
In these past years Tirana has built a small network of safe walking spaces at different schools via trade-offs such as: swapping street parking places for cycle-ways and protected walking spaces. Other initiatives include the transformation of empty lots in neighborhoods into pocket parks and playgrounds.
Key objectives for sustainability
This project is an invitation to collaborate with all actors that make us a city, be them governance units, private sector, professionals, and community actors of all ages. The initiative aims at addressing the aforementioned challenges the city in terms of:
Infrastructure: improve Tirana’s provision of quality public spaces with a focus on comfortable, well-maintained play spaces for babies and toddlers.
Access: Make sure that those spaces are numerous, distributed equitably, close to where people need them.
Climate functions: Green spaces shade and cool in the summer and absorb rainwater in the winter, relieving stress on the storm sewer system.
Infrastructure: improve Tirana’s provision of quality public spaces with a focus on comfortable, well-maintained play spaces for babies and toddlers.
Access: Make sure that those spaces are numerous, distributed equitably, close to where people need them.
Climate functions: Green spaces shade and cool in the summer and absorb rainwater in the winter, relieving stress on the storm sewer system.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The project aim to increase accessibility to safe and green play areas for the kids and their caregivers. One key objective is that of providing healthier and greener spaces for the city, increase the property value in the building blocks affected the public space improval, also increase the number of well-designed spaces, distributed evenly in the city.
Key objectives for inclusion
My project will help strengthen the bond between members of the community, while also delivering quality shared spaces in between the building blocks of Tirana. It will help to provide inclusivity for the elderly to contribute to the community and increase the time we spent outdoors in our common public spaces. One key objective is that of improving collaboration between community members and lawmakers, by bringing together community members, private sector and the local government towards improving the left out public spaces inside the neighborhoods.
How Citizens benefit
The key audiences, allies and partners to implement this project are community members: Kids, young parents, the elderly; community representatives: Building administrators; Institutions: Local government/ municipality; Private sector: Businesses; Civil society: NGOs & donors. They will engage in common activities, spend time with each other, take care of their common spaces, spend more time outdoors, feel safer in the outdoor spaces of their neighborhoods by also increasing their sense of belong and ownership. They will also take pride in taking care of their common spaces.
Physical or other transformations
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Innovative character
This project will help to strengthen the role of building administrators; increase collaboration between local government and community; expand community funding options; Increase property values; engage the Private sector in community investments; enforce the relationship between civil society and the community; motivate the community via public figures; bring back the sense of ownership of our shared spaces; expand our notion of the private, across our doorstep.
Disciplines/knowledge reflected
Tirana is well-known for child friendly urban planning, and therefore some of the most relevant points of our pilot project, which would work best in Tirana’s Municipality are as follows:
- Family-friendly urban planning and design - increasing seating in view of play areas, encouraging parents to walk their children to school/playgrounds etc;
- Neighbourhood planning - considering the relationship between babies, toddlers and adults;
- Safe mobility - this project helps to achieve a safer mobility across neighbourhoods for babies, toddlers and their caregivers.
- Public space planning - encouraging community’s involvement and inspiring ownership of the shared space;
- Healthy environments for babies and toddlers - providing safer and brain-stimulation environments;
- Exposure to nature - encouraging outdoor activities, increase % of shaded spaces etc;
- Air quality - controlling PM2.5, PM10, NO2 levels, reducing % of asphalt, Noise levels at drop-off pick-up etc;
- Transportation - creating appropriate areas for the use of strollers, cyclists etc.
- Family-friendly urban planning and design - increasing seating in view of play areas, encouraging parents to walk their children to school/playgrounds etc;
- Neighbourhood planning - considering the relationship between babies, toddlers and adults;
- Safe mobility - this project helps to achieve a safer mobility across neighbourhoods for babies, toddlers and their caregivers.
- Public space planning - encouraging community’s involvement and inspiring ownership of the shared space;
- Healthy environments for babies and toddlers - providing safer and brain-stimulation environments;
- Exposure to nature - encouraging outdoor activities, increase % of shaded spaces etc;
- Air quality - controlling PM2.5, PM10, NO2 levels, reducing % of asphalt, Noise levels at drop-off pick-up etc;
- Transportation - creating appropriate areas for the use of strollers, cyclists etc.
Methodology used
The idea is to firstly transform one unused empty public lot of approximately 200 m2 to a healthy and playful area that encourages cross-generational interaction and enhances children’s development, via the organisation of different interactive activities. The combination of Urban95 principles with the introduction of public arts and events enable interaction between community members, is a strategy that has proved to be successful.
How stakeholders are engaged
The main stakeholders involved in our pilot project are:
- the local government (including local administrative units);
the private investors (actively involved in large urban and landscape projects);
community members, especially young children and their caregivers;
national and international artists, that are actively working in public art projects;
We plan on working with all the stakeholders involved in the project. Our aim is to establish a functional chain and network featuring our collaborators and partners, in order to deliver the required results.
- the local government (including local administrative units);
the private investors (actively involved in large urban and landscape projects);
community members, especially young children and their caregivers;
national and international artists, that are actively working in public art projects;
We plan on working with all the stakeholders involved in the project. Our aim is to establish a functional chain and network featuring our collaborators and partners, in order to deliver the required results.
Global challenges
Infrastructure: improve Tirana’s provision of quality public spaces with a focus on comfortable, well-maintained play spaces for babies and toddlers.
Access: Make sure that those spaces are numerous, distributed equitably, close to where people need them.
Climate functions: Green spaces shade and cool in the summer and absorb rainwater in the winter, relieving stress on the storm sewer system.
Access: Make sure that those spaces are numerous, distributed equitably, close to where people need them.
Climate functions: Green spaces shade and cool in the summer and absorb rainwater in the winter, relieving stress on the storm sewer system.
Learning transferred to other parties
After the improval of one in-between space in the city as a pilot project, this will serve as a basis for the future projects. We can craft the collaboration program with the clear set of roles of all the involved actors, based on the pilot project and then expand the project by involving the municipality to publish a call with funding options to regenerate several micro spaces in the city, by involing all actors discussed.
Keywords
Strengthen community bonds
Provide healthier and greener spaces for the city
Figure out ways to make public areas safer for the kids and caregivers
Address community engagement and empowerment towards improving of public spaces
Tackle the ownership sense of what is communitarian/common
