PIUTD – Albania

PIUTD – Albania

Project for Integrated Urban
Upgrading and Tourism Development

Typology
Urban development

Place
Gjrokastra, Berat, Permet, Saranda – Albania

Year
2018 – 2023

Customers
World Bank Group

Professional assignment
Technical consultancy, architecture and urban planning, supervision of projects

Credits
Projects developed by: Keios Srl , Atelier4 Ltd, ARS Progetti SpA, SPT Srl and PCS Company Sh.p.k, casanova+hernandez architects, Cultural Heritage without Borders, MetroPOLIS l.t.d, GYK l.t.d, PROSKENE, DEA Studio sh.p.k, SymbioticA s.r.l, SWECO GmbH, Mobility in Chain S.r.l, InfraKonsult Sh.p.k.

The Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PIUTD), funded by the World Bank Group, supports the Government of Albania (GoA) to develop the economy and improve living conditions in the South of Albania by financing infrastructure projects in the urban centers of Gjirokastra, Saranda, Berat and Përmet. The project also extends to selected complementary sites near these urban centers that are of cultural and natural interest and contribute to strengthen their tourism appeal. The urban centers targeted by the PIUTD are all cities with a relatively small resident population – of between 5,000 and 40,000 inhabitants – but that play a key role in hosting and distributing tourist across the South of Albania. In particular, Gjirokastra and Berat are well established UNESCO Cultural Heritage cities; Gjirokastra is the southernmost port in the country functioning as the tourism gateway for the region and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Butrint, while Përmet, located in the Gjirokastra County, complements the southern tourism product as the key pivotal link of the South of Albania tourism circuit within the heart of the Balkans.

The Integrated interventions of urban upgrading supported by the PIUTD in the four targeted urban centers aimed at improving the living conditions of local dwellers and foster locally based tourism economic development in sensitive urban areas. They are expected to be combined into cohesive investment programs, which would include the upgrading of public spaces (parks, city squares, pedestrian walkways); street networks, inter-modal nodes and associated infrastructure (sidewalks, street crossings, streetlights, bicycle paths, bus stations); restoration of selected heritage buildings and façade improvement of selected buildings and touristic sites enhancement (access roads, visitors’ centers, parking, signage).