Heritage of Planned Socialist Towns in Albania “Kombinati i Tekstileve Stalin” - Tirana

Abstract

Processes such as design, construction, industrialization, de-industrialization, internal migration, external migration, life closely connected with the factory and the aim to emancipate the society by means of industrialization, gives to the planned socialist towns in Albania, a certain interest in terms of studies on urban design and sustainable development issues. In the last 20 years, on the way to the democratization of the country, a certain lack of interest has been inspired and felt on the built heritage, as part of a general cultural behaviour in confront of an unwanted past, characterized by a sort of “decomunization”. Today, we are witness on a totally different situation that also needs a different approach, a more technical than political. The heritage of the planned socialist cities is various and complex. Acting on the basis of limited symbolic resources, actively construct and promote a “de-ideologiesed” image of a young, green town. It includes realization of projects of a great value, which putting aside the ideology and propaganda, are theoretically a good example for the contemporary society which has to leave to the past the bad taste of the old politics and direct herself to a more sustainable way of thinking, considering the city as a resource in itself, which has to be used in all the possible ways it offers.