Walking the City- 2nd episode

Itinerary:

Central post offices – “Cameria” bazaar – “Myslim Shyri” road – Former “Enver” factory – Old Tirana airport – The western side of the new ringroad – “Casa Italia” shopping center – Tirana Durres highway – Polis University.

Saturday, 15 January 2011

10.00:              The second tour of Walking the City was designed with double intentions: to continue establishing the new tradition, and to use it as an instrument for participants to better understand the relation of the city center with the new campus of Polis University that was just transferred into the western side along Tirana-Durres economic and business corridor. The new venues are located next to the area of QTU shopping mall (Qendra Tregetare Univers) where several other universities are located in the last 5 years. This is practically becoming a kind of alternative/second pool of universities, despite the historical one in the city center. Polis staff and students have designed and developed there a pragmatic experimental campus concept, involving adaption of former industrial building and production of completely new buildings. In few words bringing students and staff there simply by walking 10-12 kilometers would be e kind of demystification process towards lack of information and prejudice for such distance. Indeed such relocation made Polis having more metropolitan features, while repositioning it towards the ‘traditional” city... 

Guest Post: Gloria Fallon

Boston: America's Walking City

America's Walking City is a wonderful place to live--that is, if you are the one doing the walking. During the five years I lived in Boston, four of them were spent blissfully car-free. It took me a while to realize that the pedestrian rules in Boston, and once I caught on, I sold my car, bought a pair of Nikes, and hit the cobblestones....

Kush janë metropolitan-ët e vërtetë?...

Kush janë metropolitan-ët e vërtetë– “nga Kamza në Babru për të pirë kafe” Qyteti dhe Distancat

... skulptura e një djali dhe një kali nuk të lënë të ngatërrohesh kurrë ... arritëm tek shesh rrotullimi i Kamzës. Kishim përfunduar ecjen e parë dhe kishim përmesuar një pjesë të Tiranës, të cilën shumë banorë të qendrës nuk e dinë akoma që ekziston. E quaj veten me fat që e mbaj mend se si ka qenë ky kryqëzim përpara se të vendosej kali dhe përpara se të ekzistonte Kamza vetë si qytet, sepse kështu kam kuptuar se si mund të krijohet një qytet ... një temë leksioni kjo që ua bëj shpesh studentëve të mi. Banorët e Kamzës dukej se kishin dëgjuar këshillat tona të gati 15 viteve më parë kur në zonë punonim me Co-PLAN dhe kur u thoshim se “Kamza ka nevojë për sheshin Skënderbe” ku të ndalojë një autobus që vjen nga qendra e Tiranës ... dhe këtu e kishte fjalën jo vetëm për nevojën e lidhjes me Tiranën, por edhe të identifikimit e konsiderimit që banorët e saj kishin nevojë...

Walking the City- 1st episode

Itinerary:

Train Station Tirana – Northern Tirana – Paskuqan Lake – Kamza Municipality

Saturday, 25 November 2010

10.00:              We meet all in front of Tirana’s Railway Station. At first meeting there were around 15-20 people that joined the walk. Me and my colleagues Sotir Dhamo explained to participants the route of the first tour with a simple A3 format map, underlined the walk to be undertaken. After informing a bit the nature of areas and the social-urban problematique, we started the walk from the railway station, which is very back warded and I would say primitive. It is one of the worst services in Albania, and yet not reformed since the time of friendship of Albania with Stalin. I think it desperately needs to be changed. Probably privatizing or giving it by concession might be a good idea for the moment. At this moment authorities are not interested on railways. It is bad. One line system. No electricity. Trains mean 1-2 wagons and oil run locomotive. Very low speed of maximum 30 Km/hour. Although cheap it remains neglected and used by limited and most poor segments of society. Using trains in Albania is an exotic experience. The train goes several days to the neighboring Durres city. And once per day in three main destinations: Vlora, Pogradec and Shkodra. Certain tentative in 2003 to create a rapid connection by train from Tirana the Airport and Durres, failed because of harsh political debate in the national Parliament.

Why Walking the City?

Walking throughout cities is a daily routine for most of people… Often this can be a boring, tiring, time consuming job. People have to go from their home to work, or visit family and friends, or run for a business purpose, or…

Let's WALK in the CITY !

What is "Walking the City" ?...

Walking the City is an initiative of students and staff of the School of Urban Planning, at POLIS University, International School of Architecture and Urban Development Policies, in Tirana. There exist already a legitimacy of bottom-up and participatory planning at POLIS University since the establishment of its research institute Co-PLAN Institute for Habitat Development, which involved a lot of on the ground urban and architectural experimenting projects in close contacts with local communities. Such legitimacy pushes naturally often for going back to neighborhood grassroots level.

However such tradition has been further elaborated and sophisticated over years via several other professional works and academic experiments, including the exploratory tours of students and staff in subjects like “Analysis of City & Territory”, or “Urban Design & Landscape Planning”. However, “Walking the City” is a kind of institutionalization of such tradition and values, which we the organizers of such blog-publication will try to document over time. Indeed this is a kind of historic “picture” of the city in certain moment of history, and we believe this will bring some benefits to the interested people, visitors and professionals. Enjoy it & why not try it yourself…

Besnik Aliaj, Sotir Dhamo & Eranda Janku

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