Investigates the controversial urban renewal in Tirana’s 5 Maji district, detailing forced demolitions and residents’ precarious housing situation.
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The article reports on the controversial and opaque urban renewal plan in the 5 Maji neighborhood of Tirana, Albania, which is undergoing transformation into the Tirana Riverside area. This project, overseen by architect Stefano Boeri, involves demolishing 400 existing homes to make way for 3,500 new apartments. The plan is promoted as a model eco-district, but residents report that the process has been precarious, with demolitions starting in 2021. Activists point out that the response to the 2019 earthquake allowed the government to bypass normal public consultation procedures. Residents, like Gjin Nikolli and Ndue Marku, who have lived in the area since the post-socialist period, face housing insecurity. Despite receiving new apartments, they lack property deeds, and utilities are registered to the municipality, leaving them feeling unregistered and vulnerable to future displacement. The article highlights the residents’ resistance and their concern over the lack of legal ownership and the potential for the state to reclaim the property.
