Posted on: 26th February 2020

LEZHA’s journey

Lezha (Albanian also Lezhë, Italian Alessio, Turkish Leş) is a small town in the northwest of Albania with about 15,000 inhabitants. The local administration counts about 29,000 inhabitants. Lezha is located at the narrowest point of the Albanian coastal border and is about 50 km north of the capital Tirana. Just west of the city lies the Kune-Vain valley. The Kune-Vain valley is a wetland area, characterized by numerous lagoons and swamps.

The strategic plan for sustainable development for Lezha from 2013 – 2030 aims at the spatial development and construction of infrastructure. A large part of the existing buildings will be completely renovated. It is therefore strategically an important moment to bring the use and the users into the discourse. Community-Led projects from Austria can have an inspiring effect.

Activities of the project:

Data Acquisition and Mapping:

Primary and secondary data collection, including: a. observations,
b. Literature studies on the urban planning phenomenon, c. Conducting formal and informal interviews with government officials and city residents are considered essential to enrich the information.

Road-Map vacancy activation:

The project’s experts will prepare the guide. They will compile the information and propose alternative solutions on how to implement the unused urban space in better places to work and live. Best practices from Austria will be involved as successful models that can be replicated in the Albanian context.

on-site workshop

Knowledge transfer and exchange between Creative Spaces Vienna, Technical University/share archi-tects and the municipality of Lezha and NGOs ETMI. 3-day workshop (training) in Lezha

Innovative element “creative spaces” Lezha

The way to an agency which animates the free spaces in Lezha Albania. The 3-day workshop brings the Viennese experts to Lezha. After the confrontation with the local expertise, knowledge and situation (legal, financial, political) the final document “Using the potential of Lezha: The way to create an agency for the open spaces in Lezha” will be presented.

Albanian partners:

Institute for Environmental and Territorial Management (ETMI)
ETMI is a non-profit organisation and is active in the field of environmental protection and regional development. Its aim is to promote environmental and territorial management at regional, national and international level, with a view to sustainable development. It stands for sustainable development, environmental justice, territorial management, transparency and participatory democracy.

Experts from Austria:

Silvia Forlati/share architects: “Model Nordbahnhalle”
Ulrich Fries – Kreative Räume Vienna: Vienna Modell for Temporary activation of vacancy