DURANA

NEW PUBLIC TYPOLOGIES FOR INTEGRATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND OLD URBAN LANDSCAPES OF THE NATIONAL LINEAR REGION

diploma thesis by Mikaela Maçka

The thesis project regards Dura­na, the informal linear city between Durrës and Tiranë. It explores the dynamic factors of the region and proposes a new vision for a polycentric Durana, tools for sewing the ur­ban landscape and establishment of a new brand identity of the region.

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After years of informal urban develop­ment since the shift in the political system of Albania, the region of Durana, and in particu­lar, its two poles, Durrës and Tirana, has received attention in terms of territorial/ur­ban planning, especially by the main public institution, National Planning Agency of the Territory (Agjencia Kombëtare e Planifikimit të Territorit), which has worked, among oth­ers, on the Integrated Sectorial Plan for the region Durrës-Tirana (PINS Tiranë-Durrës). The National General Plan has identified the Tirana-Durres area as one of the most import­ant economic spaces in the country and in the Balkan region.

The thesis is constituted by two im­portant parts: research and design.

The research methodology operates in three scale, territorial scale, urban scale, and architectural scale. The research concludes the fragmentation and the uneven develop­ments along the linear city due to lack of plan­ning and consequences related to it.

Linearity and polycentrism are the main design themes for Durana. The central design element of Durana is the rehabilitation of the existing Durrës-Tirana railway under a new identity wrapped by the name “Durana”. The vision of Durana is implemented through a pilot project located in one of the intersec­tion along Durana, Gjokaj-Bërxulle.

The stop of Gjokaj-Bërxulle, along with the other 20 stops of the Durana rail­way, would rise not only as a new building typology, but as center for integration and sustainable development of new and old ur­ban landscapes of the national linear region. Gjokaj-Bërxullë railway stations aims to be a vital center along Durana and beside its direct relation to sustainable transportation service, it will be a plaza, a place of social interaction and a place of commerce, as well as a flexible space with possible temporary uses, includ­ing emergency situations, for instance, a fu­ture Covid-19 outbreak.