Place Attachment in a Tirana Neighborhood: the Influence of the “Rebirth of the City” Project

Home , Edi Rama, Mayor of Tirana, Tirana

ITU A|Z • Vol 14 No 1 • March 2017 • 57-70 Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project

Edmond MANAHASA1, Ahsen ÖZSOY2 1 [email protected] • Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Engineering, Epoka University, Tirana, Albania 2 [email protected] • Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

Received: June 2016 • Final Acceptance: February 2017

Abstract This paper studies the environmental behavior of Tirana dwellers in a former socialist period neighborhood which has been the subject of a project called the “Rebirth of the City”. This project was an undertaking of the municipality of Tira- na, the capital city of Albania, and had as its goals to stabilize the urban chaos and clean the informal constructions by treating the neighborhoods with colorful art- work. The neighborhoods within this research are treated as a concept formed by housing blocks and public spaces. The aim of the research is to understand the relationship of the dwellers and their place attachment to the neighborhood during the socialist and post-socialist period. This study will be conducted through the method of observation and questionnaire. At the end of the study, it is expected to find out how the “Rebirth of the City” project impacted the dwellers’ relationship with their neighborhood. In particular, whether or not this renovation project influenced dwellers’ place attachment will be examined. The role of place attachment as a concept in this relation will be also brought into consideration.

Keywords

doi: 10.5505/itujfa.2017.31932 doi: Place attachment, Tirana neighborhood, Renovation project, “Rebirth of the City”. 58

1. Introduction to neighborhood will be considered in After the 90s almost all ex-socialist order to evaluate the physical dimen- countries faced the process of tran- sion of it after the implementation of sition from a socialist to a capitalist a similar project. Since in a local con- governmental system. Albania was the text there is no work conducted in this last country in Europe to experience field, the research and its results might regime change. The period after the contribute for further urban develop- collapse of the socialist regime brought ment projects. big challenges into the lives of all Al- After giving some brief historical banians. In a place where private prop- information about Tirana, the con- erty was minimalized to the extreme, struction of housing and public spaces the desire of people for new buildings during the socialist and post-social- and the weakness of the government ist period will be considered and the led to people to build informally and “Rebirth of the City” project will be invade public property. The chaotic explained. In order to reveal the en- situation flourished for approximately vironmental behavior of the dwellers, eight years until the year 2000 when the Mayor of the Tirana Municipality, Edi Rama, undertook an initiative to cleanse the city from illegal construction. In order to minimize the unaes- thetic effect of the semi-informal aspects of the buildings, he started the project dubbed “Rebirth of the City”. The aim of this study is to measure the influence of the above-mentioned renovation project in the relationship between the dwellers’ thoughts, attitudes and their attachment to neighborhood. In this context, place attachment is used as a tool to achieve this goal. Place attachment has been de- Figure 1a. Image from housing block between Asim Vokshi and fined as a concept by Low and Altman Petro Marko Streets. (1992), and its basic definition includes an emotional relationship to certain environmental settings. The model developed by Scannell and Gifford (2010) defined place as physical environment, and linked people to emotion, and attachment to social connection. The attachment is seen at different scales of places such as the home, neighborhood, city, region, country and even continent. This study is focused on the scale of attachment to neighborhood. Previous researchers have used place attachment to the neighborhood to measure a feeling of pride (Twig- ger-Ross & Uzzell, 1996), a sense of wellbeing (Harris et al., 1995), and the attitude of dwellers in revitalization projects (Brown et al., 2003). This paper will focus on the effects of this project on the environmental behavior of citizens who are inhabitants of the residential neighborhood between Asim Vokshi and Petro Marko Streets (Fig- Figure 1b. Its position shown by a red dot on the city map. ure 1a and Figure 1b) and attachment

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between them and their neighborhood. The post-socialist context of a neighborhood will be examined, and a comparison between the two periods will be elicited by inquiring about the attachment of dwellers to the socialist period and the one to the post-socialist period. In conclusion, the effects of the implementation of the “Rebirth of the City” project in the above-mentioned Figure 2. Brasinian Boulevard and traditional town (Albanian neighborhood from the physical di- Vintage Images). mension of place attachment, and an evaluation of both public space and dwelling units of the neighborhood will be discussed.

2. Historical background of Tirana as the capital of Albania The urban planning and development of Tirana started when King Zog’s government invited Italian archi- tect Armando Brasini in 1925 to develop a plan. The project included the ex- pansion of the city on its southern side with a wide boulevard. Although his vision was not implemented, it served as a base for Florestano de Fausto’s plan for the city center in 1926 and Gherar- do Bosio’s plan “Imperial Boulevard” in the 1940s, accommodating ministry buildings on its flanking sides. As Albania ended up largely devas- Figure 3. City center in socialist period and major landmarks tated after WWII, the Communist re- from http://www.gazetatema.net/web/2016/01/11/fotot- gime following in 1948 would launch tirana-dje-dhe-sot-si-ka-qene-kryeqyteti-shqiptar/ accessed in a strategy of industrialization based on 01/02/2016. the Soviet model, according to which it would also increase its influence over the working class. The Communist regime controlled Albania based on a centralized economy system and sim- ilarly the artistic and architectural life of the country were strictly controlled by the central Politburo. In this period, three urban plans were developed (in 1957, 1965 and 1976) to accommo- date socialist period landmarks (Bleta, 2010). The post-socialist period can be considered as the most dramatic from an urban development point of view. The Figure 4. Dramatic urban development in post- transition from a centralized economy socialist city center from http://www.noa.al/mob/index. to a liberal one was associated with a php?type=artikull&id=104072.html accessed in 02/02/2016. loss of competitiveness of the many the observation technique and ques- state companies that would lead to a tionnaires have been used. The ques- migration of population from eastern tionnaire was applied to 30 dwellers to western Albania or to western coun- with the aim of finding out the relation tries. Due to a lack of capacity and the

Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project 60 inefficiency of urban management at the central and local level, the informal settlements “flourished” from 1992 to 2000. While the informal settlements invasion of public spaces in the city center, in the peripheral zone, agricul- tural fields were occupied by newcomers for housing needs. In the year 2000, the election of Edi Rama as the May- or of Tirana would begin a new phase in the undertaking of an operation to remove the informal settlements, thus cleansing major public spaces from this invasion. His second largest intervention was entitled the “Rebirth of the City”, and it would include the painting of certain socialist period apartment Figure 5a. Residential settlement “1Maji” representative of the blocks with colorful designs on their 50s housing strategy (from Alketa Misja). facades.

3. Housing and public space in Tirana’s neighborhood The construction of housing blocks and public spaces within their historical context will be explained in two sections: the construction of neighborhoods during the socialist period, and the developments in the post-socialist period after the 90s.

3.1. Socialist period housing and public space in Tirana’s neighborhoods Although the application of the so- Figure 5b. The construction of the western residential area of Tirana in the socialist period (originally published in Ylli Review- cialist political system varied across August 1961, from http://shqipfoto.livejournal.com/ different countries, two major features were common to all countries from a spatial production point of view. First- ly, the quick urban development after the damage left by WWII and second- ly, the removal of the disparity between the rural and urban zones (Tsenkova & Nedovic-Budic, 2006). The housing strategies in Albania during the socialist period can be divided into three periods: the 1950s, the 1960s and the 1970s (Aliaj, 2003b). The construction of housing was a part of an urban planning strategy whose aim was to form an egalitarian society. In this context, the housing stock will be studied as a part of this strategy. Figure 5c. The construction of housing blocks through the As a result of World War II, Albania voluntary work of a “socialist woman” in the 70s Tirana (from experienced enormous damage and Julie Abitz). approximately 62,000 houses, or one quarter of the total housing stock, was vide housing by removing the old ur- destroyed (Hall, 1994, p.359). So in the ban zones and building new apartment 1950s the government started to pro- blocks which were 3 to 4 floors high, but their architectural quality was very ITU A|Z • Vol 14 No 1 • March 2017 • E. Manahasa, A. Özsoy 61 low (Aliaj, 2003b, p.57). The apartment plans, which awarded privileges to de- blocks became the main form of ac- velopers through unforeseen amend- commodation. ments to the existing regulatory plans During the 60s, the Stalinist and (Hirt, 2014). Maoist anti-urbanization strategy was Socialist-planned Tirana was ready idealized in order to decrease the dif- prey to illegal invasion of public land ferences between: i. the different so- for housing, especially on the periph- cial classes; ii. the urban and rural ar- ery of Tirana, and for commercial in- eas; and iii. the different regions. The terests in the city center. The selection so-called “Cultural Revolution”, im- of the new Mayor Edi Rama was a sig- plemented between years 1967-1969, nificant political event in “cleansing” aimed to create a new “Socialist Man”, the city from informal construction, who was one who puts the collective while on the other side it was in this interest of his people over his personal period that high-rise buildings would interest and uses his sacrifices to build become the new representation of the a socialist society (Prifti, 1978, p.149). post-socialist period. Although between the years 1945- The inconsistencies between build- 79, approximately 300,000 urban apart- ings and the urban irregularity in gen- ments were built throughout Albania, eral, led the Municipality of Tirana in there was still a need for more housing the year 2000 to undertake a project due to the increasing population. Aliaj called “The Rebirth of City” which (2003), an Albanian scholar, mentions included the colorful painting of the that beyond the voluntary work con- facades of a considerable number of structions, new apartment blocks were apartments inside the zone called the constructed by prefabrication for up to Middle Ring. Then the Mayor of the 5-6 floors in the main cities like Tirana city Edi Rama, himself a painter and and Durres. According to him, these former professor at the Academy of buildings were constructed of brick Fine Arts, undertook this initiative and the foundations by local stone. The to make the city more “attractive and facades of the buildings were made of playful-looking” (Pojani, 2010). The similar materials. project was implemented between the The public space in the socialist years 2000 through 2008. The concep- period in Tirana can be divided into tualization of the facade designs was two typologies: the first one which made by Anri Sala, an Albanian artist includes entities at the city level like educated in Paris, and together with major squares, major streets and side- Hans Ulrich Obrist, they adopted the walks and major parks (“lulishte” in facade project as a curatorial endeavor Albanian); and the second one which by inviting artists such as Olafur Eli- includes green areas and playgrounds asson, Liam Gillick and Dominique in between the apartment blocks that Gonzalez-Foerster to contribute and can be defined more at the level of the turn residential blocks “into unique neighborhood. works of art” (Tate Modern Seminar, 2009).This time Tirana city gained a 3.2. The post socialist period colorful, cheerful identity, which was, urban development and however, far from the attitude of being neighborhoods in Tirana a capital city (Figures 5, 6). In order to The post-socialist period housing study the influence of these urban de- in Tirana was seriously influenced by velopments, this research was based on the socio-economic-political context the theoretical framework on the con- that Albania passed through. The need cept of place attachment. for housing was fulfilled at the expense of public space (Abitz, 2006). Data in- 4. Place attachment and cluding the post-socialist period after neighborhood the 90s show a continuous reduction of As was mentioned earlier, the the- public space. The process of the reduc- oretical framework of this study is tion of urban public space was guided based on the concept of place attach- on by the framework of “partial urban ment. Place attachment is described as plans” (example of Albania) or ad hoc a concept which deals with the relation

Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project 62

Figure 6. Illegal construction in the city center between 1993-1999 (left) and (right). The Middle Ring of Tirana (from Besnik Aliaj).

Figure 7. Colors are used to stabilize the informal additions, without requiring harmony between the apartments (from Tirana Municipality Digital Archive).

Figure 8. The situation of buildings before the “Rebirth of the City” with semi-informal additions and after the “colorful” intervention (from Tirana Municipality Digital Archive). of people to place. According to Low tite model could be grouped by taking and Altman (1992), the word ‘attach- in consideration two aspects: i. its ty- ment’ emphasizes affect and the word pology, and ii. its scale. Furthermore ‘place’ focuses on the environmental according to typology places could be setting to which people are emotion- grouped into closed and open. While ally attached. In this definition we find “closed” place reflects the vista of con- the three substantial elements that as it servative society, “open” place refers to is understood compose place attach- and is related to the effects of globaliza- ment: place-physical environment, tion on space. The other influential as- people-emotion, attachment-social pect in attachment is the scale of place. connection. The same three substantial As matter of fact, attachment can oc- elements were defined into a tripartite cur at different scales including home, model by Scannell and Gifford (2010). neighborhood, city, country and even Levicka (2011) examined the find- continent. ings on place attachment by re-evaluat- Since the scope of this study covers ing the concept based on Scannell and the neighborhood scale, attachment Gifford’s tripartite model. She revealed on this level is treated in a more spe- that the use of place within the tripar- cific way. Neighborhoods are places

ITU A|Z • Vol 14 No 1 • March 2017 • E. Manahasa, A. Özsoy 63 bigger than home and smaller than cit- (especially old women) who showed ies and do not feature (Levicka, 2011) high attachment to their neighborhood clearly defined borders. Scholars have even though their physical situation used different definitions regarding was not good. In fact, ownership is also them. Brown & Perkins (1992) state related to the idea that owners usual- that neighborhoods are featured by ly have a longer duration and consider dynamic and intense social commu- the dwelling as an expenditure. This nication, while Galster (2011) talks also implies place attachment. Mesch about homogenous features of neigh- & Manor (1998) found that good rela- borhoods that may contain varying tions with neighbors influence place at- elements such as: uniformity related to tachment to a neighborhood. Brown et building typology, demographic com- al. (2003) suggested that elements that position, environmental aspects, social are related to the physical environment and emotional dimensions in relation like parks or sidewalks that are used to the quarter. Although there are no in neighborhood activities and social clear borders to neighborhoods, they interaction increase place attachment. are the place scale which has been used Perkins & Long (2002) found that for research more than any other with collective efficacy was a key element more than 75% of the working residen- in attachment to neighborhood. The tial place attachment (Lewicka, 2011). connection to fear of crime in certain The similarity between the concept of neighborhoods has been reflected in community and the concept of neigh- lower attachment to the neighborhood borhood attachment and it being an (Mesch & Manor, 1998). In certain intermediate level between home and ethnic or low-income neighborhoods, city are seen as major reasons for the even though the rate of crime was high, neighborhood being the most-investi- the fact that they were isolated from gated scale of place. other parts of society had resulted in a According to Hidalgo & Hernandez high level of attachment (Fried, 2000). (2001), one of the main reasons could In the present study of a neighbor- be residential satisfaction, which would hood in the city of Tirana that was part include both the physical and the social of a large renovation project, attach- dimensions of a neighborhood. Simi- ment is treated to explore the sense of larly, Riger and Lavrakas (1982) found community in relation to the physical that there exist two forms of neighbor- dimension of the settlement. Issues of hood attachment: “rootedness” which feeling and well-being in connection would express the physical attachment to physical and aesthetic aspects are and “bonding” which would express studied to find out the influence of the the social attachment. Taylor et al. above-mentioned project on their at- (1985) used the terms “rootedness and tachment. involvement” for the physical dimension and “local bonds” for the social 5. Case study dimension. A study conducted by Hi- The neighborhood selected for dalgo & Hernandez (2001) has shown the case study, located between Asim that place attachment to the neighbor- Vokshi and Petro Marko Streets, was hood is weaker in comparison to house a socialist period settlement and was or city regarding both physical and so- included within the “Rebirth of the cial attachment. City”. The neighborhood was built Attachment to neighborhood has during the1960sand 1970s for the em- been treated by a very wide range of ployees of the Ministry of Internal Af- studies. It has been used to measure fairs within the so-called Middle Ring the feeling of pride of living in a certain north-western corner very close to settlement (Twigger-Ross & Uzzell, Zogu i Zi Square (until the end of so- 1996) or sense of well-being (Harris et cialist period it was the north-western al., 1995). It is also used as a tool for border of the city). understanding the attitudes of dwellers The neighborhood consists of four in revitalization projects. Brown et al. apartment blocks, which generate a (2003) found in a study conducted in U-shape and contain a considerable Harlem that it was the housing owners park, and three perpendicular apart-

Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project 64 ment blocks, which have two green areas in between. While the green space of the U-shaped portion is preserved completely and is allocated for the public with functions such as a playground, a football/basketball field, or other rec- reational space. During the post-socialist period, a coffee shop has been constructed in one of the green areas between the perpendicular blocks in the post-socialist period. Coffee shops in Albania are ubiquitous, and can be considered an important part of public space. The methodology used in this study Figure 9. The apartment blocks (in black hatch) and the public included techniques of observation space (in green hatch) included in the study (from Tirana and questionnaire surveys which were Municipality Archive). conducted with the dwellers of this activities were documented by taking neighborhood. The observation was photographs and recording the use of made in the public green areas, com- public space. As a result, it was found mon social spaces and cafes between that in the morning and before mid- the apartment blocks in the neighbor- day, the public spaces between the hood. Furthermore it included data apartment blocks were used by retired collection through conversation. The men (102), who come together ful- study was conducted in May 2014 filling their need to socialize and play during three different times of a day dominoes. In this interval of time there including morning, midday and after- were also grandmothers (80) with their noon, and it was spread over the space young grandchildren or babysitters of a week. Observations of the situa- with small children. The children (115) tion and activities were documented used the public space in general in the through photographing, and the use afternoons, because in the mornings of public space was catalogued in a they would be at school. The children list. The questionnaire was organized played football in the field and ex- into three parts: the first part included pressed orally that this was the most general information on an inhabitant’s important space for them. The fam- profile; the second part included ques- ilies in general used the public space tions on the settlement’s characteristics after 17 o’clock. Their use consisted of which, beyond depicting the actual drinking coffee in the coffee shops and post-socialist situation of the neigh- taking care of their children (from 5 borhood, asked for a possible compari- coffee shops observed, resulted around son between the pre- and post-socialist 350 people). In fact the ground floors built environment; and the third part of the apartments in the buildings have asked the inhabitants to evaluate the been transformed into coffee shops in “Rebirth of the City” project and its the best cases, while in the worst case; impact on the neighborhood. Thus the in one space there was a coffee shop questionnaire aimed to reveal not only which had been built in the center the evaluation of neighborhood in both of what used to be a green area. The socialist and post-socialist periods, but weekends are times in which the public also the attachment of the dwellers in spaces are used to their full potential. respect to these periods, with special In this case, the playground, the foot- emphasis on the effects of the “Rebirth ball field, green spaces and coffee shops of the City” project. are the spaces in focus.

5.1. The observation and findings 5.2. The questionnaire and findings The observation aimed to study the The questionnaire survey was con- use of public green areas ofa housing ducted with the inhabitants living in neighborhood at different times of the the neighborhood in their public green day. Observations of the situation and areas, common social spaces and cafes,

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members and 1 participant had family with 6 members. Regarding the property aspect of inhabitants (dwelling ownership), 19 people were owners of their dwellings and 11 were renters. As for the education, 16 had a secondary education, 9 had a high school education and 5 were university graduates.

5.2.2. Settlement characteristics The main aim of this part of the questionnaire was to get residents ‘evaluation on the physical aspects of their neighborhood before the 90s. Duration in the neighborhood: At Figure 10. Images from inner courtyards of housing blocks first, the dwellers were asked about between Asim Vokshi and Petro Marko Streets the duration of their stay in the neighborhood. The results showed that12 and it was realized in the form of an participants had lived there for more interview. than 30 years, 6 participants between 21-30 years, 6 participants between 11- 5.2.1. User profile 20 years, and 6 participants had lived There were 30 participants in the there between6-10 years. questionnaire survey, of whom 12 were Physical conditions of their dwell- female and 18 were male. 15 were in- ings/quarter before the 90s: When habitants before the 1990s and 15 of questioned about the situation their them. Participants’ professions were dwellings/quarter was in before the different. Of note is that 4 of them were 90s, 1/3 of the interviewed (10 people) drivers, 4 of them were salesmen and 4 thought that the quality of the dwell- housewives. There were also 5 retired ings was poor before the 1990s and 3 persons, 3 workers, 3 unemployed, 2 people said they were very bad. 4 peo- teachers, 1 civil servant, 1 pharmacist, ple replied they were average, 3 people 1 chef, 1 cleaner and 1 electrician. replied they were satisfactory, only 2 The ages of the inhabitants who were people replied they were very good and the subjects of this research: 3 were 8 people did not answer. between 21 and 30 years old, 7 were Positive and negative aspects of the between 31 and 40, 5 were between41 neighborhood: This question included and 50, 7 were between 51 and 60, 2 articulation of both positive and nega- were between 61 and 70, and6 were 71 tive aspects, but the dwellers tended to and 80 years old. respond to only one aspect. Notably, 20 As for the family size, 8 participants dwellers mentioned negative aspects had families of 2 members, 4 partici- including 8 people who mentioned pants with 3 members, 7 participants drug use, 8 people who mentioned with 4 members, 10participants with 5 noise pollution and 4 people who Table 1. User profile information.

Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project 66 pointed out the problems in hygiene. isfactory and 4 people considered them On the other side, 10 dwellers men- to be very good. The number of people tioned only positive aspects, includ- considering the additions as negative ing 8 who pointed out the existence was 7 and it was mentioned as poor of green areas and 2 who mentioned (6 people) and very bad (1 people). A availability of car parking. considerable number of dwellers (9 Adjectives to define the neighbor- people) said the informal additions hood: This was a multiple-choice ques- were average. tion and included certain pairs of ad- The built environment elements be- jectives that the dwellers could select to fore the 90s neighborhood that dwellers define their neighborhood. The dwell- missed: This question tended to inquire ers could select more than one adjec- about the elements that were found in tive. The adjectives used were: inter- the socialist period but do not exist esting-ordinary, pleasant-unpleasant, anymore. The results showed that 10 attractive-unattractive, good-bad, and people missed safety, 10 people quiet- comfortable-uncomfortable. The eval- ness, 5 people employment, 4 people uation of the inhabitants was predomi- parks and 1 person replied hygiene. nantly positive and results showed that Those dwellers that replied about the 14 people defined their living quarter employment rather than the built en- as good, 6 people responded comfort- vironment elements had referred to so- able, 6 people found it pleasant, 5 peo- cial aspects of neighborhood life. ple found it unpleasant and 4 people interesting. 5.2.3. Evaluation of the Special aspects of the neighborhood: “Rebirth of the City’’ project The purpose of this question was to The third and final part of the ques- learn from dwellers the special as- tionnaire aimed to understand the im- pects of their living quarter. The results pact of the “Rebirth of the City” proj- showed 12 participants mentioned as ect which mostly treated the facade of a special aspect the spaciousness, 6 of housing blocks. them referred to cafes, 4 people found Evaluation of apartment/quarter/ vitality as special, 4 people considered environment in the actual colorful state: the playground and the last 4 responses This question aimed to determine the pointed out quietness. influence of the colorful state overall. Evaluation of green areas within the The dwellers predominantly (20 peo- neighborhood: This question was re- ple) considered positively the colorful lated to the green areas that compose state of the neighborhood (including16 the main public space of this neighbor- people replying satisfactory and 4 peo- hood. The results show that 20 dwellers ple replying very good). The number of view these spaces positively, 15 people dwellers who considered the painted evaluated green spaces as satisfacto- state negative was 7, and it was deemed ry and 5 people as very good. On the as very bad by 4 people and poor by 3 other hand, 7 people viewed the green people. spaces negatively, 6 people considered Attachment to the neighborhood pre- the green spaces “poor” and 1 dweller vious to the 1990s or the current colorful replied the spaces were very bad. The situation: This is one of the key ques- remaining 3 dwellers gave the green ar- tions of the research because it will be eas an average rating. used to interpret the other results. The Evaluation of informal additions results showed that 14 people are at- in housing blocks: The housing blocks tached to the existing situation, 12 peo- contained informal additions. It is im- ple to the one before the 90s and 4 peo- portant to understand the opinions of ple did not answer. Some of the people the dwellers. The informal additions interviewed, and especially those that were minor constructions such as the possessed informal additions, feared enclosure of a balcony to transform it their demolition, and they hesitated to into a room or adding new rooms onto reply to certain questions that would the terrace. Most of the dwellers (19 include any conflict of interest. people) considered the informal addi- Evaluation on the use of colors: This tions to be positive, 15 people to be sat- question intended to identify the opin-

ITU A|Z • Vol 14 No 1 • March 2017 • E. Manahasa, A. Özsoy 67 ion of dwellers on the usage of colors. ration of the colorful state. The major- The results showed mostly negative ity of27 dwellers replied that the color- reactions, with18 people responding ful facades were temporary (including negatively (including 14 people reply- 17 people who thought that apartments ing poor and 4 people replying very would not remain colorful, and 10 peo- bad). The dwellers who deemed the ple who thought that they would be colors to be positive were 6, including reconstructed altogether), while only3 5 people who responded that they were people said that they would remain satisfactory and 1 person considering colorful permanently. the colors as very good. Meanwhile, Was the “Rebirth of the City” project here were 6 dwellers who considered a holistic solution to the problematic of the usage of colors to be average. the dwellings and quarter? This ques- Evaluation on pictorial attitudes (de- tion intended to inquire as to whether signs): The dwellers were asked wheth- the above-mentioned project solved er the pictorial attitudes were the right all the problems of the neighborhood, ones. This question, rather than asking including the common space and about the colors used, intended to in- the housing blocks. Unanimously, all quire about the opinion of the design dwellers answered that it did not solve of the facades. The results show that 10 all the problems of the neighborhood. people thought the pictorial attitudes Renovation based on architectur- were the right ones, 8 people thought al values before the 90s: This question otherwise. There were 6 dwellers who asked dwellers whether the archi- responded that the designs were appro- tectural values before the 90s should priate for some of the apartment blocks have been considered or not. Most of and 5 people expressed they had no the dwellers (18 people) replied that opinion. the renovation should have been done Is the colorful situation of the apart- conserving the architectural values of ment blocks considered permanent, the 90s, and 12 people said there was a transitional state to be modified or no need to consider those values. destined to be destroyed in order to be Identification of city with color- reconstructed? This question aimed to ful character: Due to the fact that the elicit the opinion of dwellers on the du- “Rebirth of the City” project was im-

Figure 11. Miscellaneous chart of questionnaire.

Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project 68 plemented beyond the neighborhood Thus it can be said based on obser- scale up to the urban level, this ques- vation, the public spaces of the neigh- tion aimed to measure the impact of borhood were used by the retired men, the project on the scale of the whole grandmothers and babysitters in the city and its identification with colors. morning. The children used them in On the whole, the results showed that the afternoon and the families used 26 dwellers responded that the city them in their time after work. The pub- should be identified with all its urban lic spaces were used at the maximum in components, while 3 people replied the weekend. The questionnaire found that it should be identified with its col- out that the dwellers evaluated the “Re- orful character and 1 person thought birth of the City” project as a positive the city should not be thusly identified. initiative, being slightly more attached To live in another place after the col- to the colorful situation, although they orful painting of the facades of apart- did not like the colors used, consider- ments: The dwellers were asked this ing the man impermanent solution. question in order to understand the negative impact of the implementa- 6. Concluding remarks tion of this project in relation to their The change in the political regime in neighborhood. The results showed a Albania from a socialist system to a lib- balanced situation, there were 12 peo- eral (capitalist) one, led to substantial ple who said that yes they could, 12 shifts in the built environment of its people say not and 6 people who gave capital city, Tirana. The need for more no answer. However it is important to residential space and the low govern- say that those who had the idea to live mental authority prepared the way for elsewhere (even though it was asked in semiformal additions and illegal con- the question after the one about col- struction in Tirana. The entrepreneur- orful painting) might be related also ship initiated by the mayor of Tirana, to other reasons such as: economical, Edi Rama, in order to stabilize the situ- higher living standards etc. The findings of the questionnaire ation, the “Rebirth of the City”, was fo- show that the dwellers considered the cused mostly in the Middle Ring zone physical conditions of their neighbor- housing neighborhoods. It was applied hood before the 90s as poor. Although by a superficial pictorial approach con- they stressed mostly negative aspects sidering only apartment block facades, of the neighborhood, controversially and as a result the architectural out- they used positive adjectives to define put had very different results from the it. Spaciousness was seen as the most original one. The residential buildings special aspect of their neighborhood built during the period of the socialist and people in the majority considered regime were transformed from a har- their green areas as positive. The dwell- monious stock of apartments, all in a ers evaluated their informal additions functionalist modern style, to a color- as positive and they mostly missed ful, non-harmonious collection devoid from before the 90s safety and quiet- of any relation to proper volumetric ness. The “Rebirth of the City” project proportions. was mostly considered as positive and The theory of place attachment is the number of inhabitants attached to used as a main framework for this the colorful state was slightly higher to study in order to measure the effects those attached to the old one, but they of the renovation project and the en- did not like the colors and the designs vironmental behavior of the dwellers used. Furthermore, this project was after its implementation. Although considered a temporary solution and places show variety based on their ty- did not solve the real problems of the pology and their scale, Levicka (2011) neighborhood. Instead people replied revealed that the similarity of the con- that the project should have considered the architectural values of before cepts of neighborhood and commu- the 90s, and the city of Tirana cannot nity and its intermediate size between be identified with a colorful state, but house and city were the main factors with all its urban components. which made it the scale most focused

ITU A|Z • Vol 14 No 1 • March 2017 • E. Manahasa, A. Özsoy 69 on by researchers. The attachment to neighborhood, rather than the exterior the physical dimension of a neigh- facades - spaces largely left out of the borhood is defined as “rootedness” renovation project the “Rebirth of the by Riger & Lavrakas (1982) or “root- City”. The actual situation of the neigh- edness and involvement” by Taylor borhood after the colorful painting of (1985). Furthermore, place attachment the facades was mostly considered pos- was used before by Brown et al. (2003) itive by the dwellers, probably due to to analyze the attitudes of inhabitants the poor situation that they had been in revitalization projects. This study in prior to this intervention; however, goes beyond the attitudes of dwellers. most of the dwellers considered the It aims to probe the attachment to the usage of the colors as inappropriate. physical dimension of a neighborhood, In the same way, less than half of the which includes public spaces and hous- interviewed dwellers considered the ing blocks, comparing their situation artistic approach used as appropriate. before the 90s and after the implemen- Predominantly, the dwellers consid- tation of a renovation project. ered the colorful situation a temporary On the whole, the dwellers consid- one with which, according to them, ered the situation of their neighbor- the neighborhood/city should not be hood before the 90s as mostly poor. identified, but instead through all of its Describing the positive and negative components. Most of the dwellers ex- aspects of their quarter, the majority pressed the fact that the architectural of them answered negatively referring values from before the 90s should have to problems such as drugs, noise and been considered in this renovation dirtiness, while a minority pointed out project. The most interesting result is positive aspects such as green areas and the balance (slightly in favor of the new the availability of parking. On the oth- colorful state) between people who are er hand, when they were asked to select attached to the new colorful situation defined adjectives for their neighbor- and those who are attached to the fa- hood, they predominantly chose pos- cades as they were before the 90s. itive adjectives including good, com- As a result, it can be said that the fortable and pleasant, and a minority “Rebirth of the City” project was a su- used negative adjectives including un- perficial project as it treated only the pleasant and average estimations such outer facades in the residential neigh- as interesting. Physical features related borhood between Asim Vokshi and to the courtyards such as spatiality, ca- Qemal Stafa Streets. It did not provide a fes, a playground and quietness were holistic solution considering the whole reflected as the special features of the built environment. It did not begin to neighborhood. The green areas were touch the real problems of the neigh- widely valued by residents, as they have borhood, which included the indoor remained the primary public space of spaces of housing blocks and especially the neighborhood. The dwellers mostly the courtyards as the most important considered the informal additions as public spaces. It did, however, have a positive. The dwellers missed the safe- substantial impact on the attachment ty and quietness of the socialist period of the dwellers to their neighborhood. with the influx of newcomers and loud This considerable value of attachment coffee bars in the post-socialist period. to the colorful situation of their neigh- Based on the results of the question- borhood can be interpreted as their naire survey, it can be said that the “Re- support of new investments in improv- birth of the City” considered only the ing their built environment’s quality, exterior facades of the neighborhood even though the project treated in this by painting them artistically and color- research was at best a partial interven- fully, and as a result, it can be said that tion. Place attachment in this research it did not achieve a holistic solution. can be considered as an important tool The inhabitants in the neighborhood in understanding the need for more consider public space to be the inner holistic renovation projects. courtyard and the inner facades of the

Place attachment in a Tirana neighborhood: The influence of the “Rebirth of the City” project 70

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ITU A|Z • Vol 14 No 1 • March 2017 • E. Manahasa, A. Özsoy