“Many of us have remained silent, so it was time for us to stop being silent.” This is what has brought together 212 architects, urban planners, planners, engineers, lecturers, researchers and territorial development professionals to date in a public statement on how Albania’s future is being determined.
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The initiative was spurred by the protests and developments in Zvërnec and Nartë, as well as the civic mobilization that followed, but the signatories’ concerns are not limited to a single project. The focus is on how decisions are made about cities, villages, the coast, the landscape and shared natural resources.
“Our fundamental common concern is not only what is being built, but who decides, on the basis of which planning instrument, through which legal procedure and in whose interest the decision is made,” the statement says.
The professionals believe that the territory cannot be viewed merely as a surface to be exploited for short-term interests. It is a limited resource and a shared asset, while decisions made today affect entire generations and extend beyond any political mandate or individual project.
For this reason, they call for territorial planning to be restored as a public, scientific and democratic process. In their view, this process should guide development, coordinate policies and manage conflicts over land use, while guaranteeing the protection of the environment, cultural heritage, property rights and the long-term public interest.
Architect Fjoralb Shehi says that one of the reasons that brought the professionals together was the feeling of powerlessness in the face of the way decisions are being made.
“We have felt powerless in the face of all this decision-making, and we have found the way in which all these decisions are being made extremely alarming,” Shehi says.
The document raises concerns that the continued centralization of decision-making has been accompanied by the weakening of legal certainty, the shrinking role of local authorities, and restrictions on transparency, professional scrutiny and public participation.
The signatories argue that territorial planning is moving away from its function as the main instrument for guiding development and is being transformed into a mechanism that follows decisions drafted in advance.
Urban planner Doriana Musai also links this problem to the exclusion of Albanian professionals from important design and decision-making processes.
“The decision-making that has been centralized and shifted toward the National Territorial Council (…) has also led to the exclusion of domestic expertise and the introduction of foreign architects without a competition,” Musai says.
According to her, there is a stark difference between the procedures Albanian professionals follow every day and the way some major projects designed by foreign architects are handled.
The statement emphasizes that domestic experts possess irreplaceable knowledge of the country’s history, environment, culture and social structure. For this reason, they should be part of every stage of decision-making concerning the territory and should not be limited merely to the technical implementation of choices made by others.
Cooperation with foreign professionals is not opposed in itself, provided that it brings knowledge, professional exchange and the strengthening of domestic capacities.
“The prestige of the project’s author cannot replace its legality, transparency and quality. Every project with a territorial impact must be assessed by the process that produces it, the impact it creates and the interest it represents,” the statement says.
Urban planner Greta Disha considers the debate that emerged after “The Albanian Files” an opportunity to refocus attention on how the territory is being developed.
“I am not surprised that in ‘The Albanian Files,’ the government presents them—and proudly,” Disha says, adding that domestic architects have been placed in an increasingly weaker position.
Part of the statement is also devoted to the state administration of private and public property. For the signatories, legal certainty regarding property constitutes the foundation of sustainable planning and trust in institutions.
They call for every initiative to liberalize the land market, including expanding foreign citizens’ right to purchase agricultural land, to be considered only after the state has fulfilled its obligations to recognize, return and compensate Albanian citizens for their property.
In their view, changes to the category and designated use of land should be made through special, clear and transparent procedures, not automatically after a project is approved. Likewise, the use, transfer or exchange of public property should be based on territorial planning, transparency and the long-term public interest, without bypassing these principles because of individual projects.
“Communities’ ties to the land, environment and landscape are part of the public interest and cannot be reduced solely to the legal relationship of ownership,” the signatories emphasize.
Another demand from the professionals concerns the real involvement of citizens and affected communities before projects are approved. Public consultations, Environmental Impact Assessments and Strategic Environmental Assessments should not serve as formalities after decisions have been made, but should have a concrete influence on their content.
For initiatives with a major public impact, the architects also call for the creation of independent mechanisms for technical assessment, with the aim of increasing the quality, transparency and credibility of decision-making.
Architect Lisjan Tusha describes signing the statement as a formal way of expressing opposition.
“I joined the group of signatories to the statement with the aim of opposing the anomalies the country has experienced over these 13 years,” Tusha says, expressing hope that the number of signatories will continue to grow.
The professionals acknowledge that political decision-making is a legitimate part of territorial planning. However, they stress that politics should not replace the professional process, bypass planning instruments or be exercised without transparency, justification and accountability.
For the signatories, the debate over Zvërnec is essentially a debate about how Albania makes decisions concerning its territory. They link the issue to the rule of law and European integration, arguing that sustainable development requires strong institutions, legal certainty, professional expertise and genuine community participation.
