Tirana has been selected by the American Institute of Architecture as a success story and an example of how a city can be transformed with even less budget.
The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, participated as a special guest at the AIA International Conference on "Youth and Urban Transformation", which took place yesterday in Pristina and attended by over 100 architects from all over world.
The conference of architects praised Tirana as one of the cities that has changed most in the last 25 years in Europe, while its mayor in the last three years brought a transformative spirit through green initiatives and mobilization of citizens and youth organizations.
"I am very happy that Tirana has been selected by the American Institute of Architecture as a success story and an example to learn what you can do with a little budget but with a lot of creativity in transforming the city. Of course, it makes me feel proud because we did it . This is not just a municipal work, it is the work of the city, especially when all contribute, children, adults, grandparents, those who sow trees, cleaners, bicycle trackers, transforming urban spaces, starting from New Bazaar to the New Boulevard," said Veliaj in his speech.
Veliaj said also that there is still much work to be done.
"So, I believe that in the last year of the mandate, the focus will be on rural areas, new peripheral areas, where we have created new neighborhoods such as Farka, Selita area near I Thate Lake, Zoo, New Ring, such as Kashar, Astir, Yzberisht and Fresku area."
He further added that the Municipality of Tirana will have in its investment the improvement of the infrastructure in the three new neighborhoods created in the capital, as part of the urban area, which will be named "Neighborhood 12", "Neighborhood 13 "And" Neighborhood 14 ".
"The three new neighborhoods will be the focus of the Municipality's work because I believe that the spaces between the urban city and the rural areas are the ones most in need of intervention as a remnant of the former bad politics of the former municipalities. If we continue with this spirit, as we did for kindergartens, as we did for the corner of toys or the planting of the trees, I believe that good days await us for Tirana," said the mayor.
Tirana is considered as the next station of the Conference of the American Institute of Architecture, where many of the best architects and urbanists from all over the world will participate.