Urban development and infrastructure improvement

(EURO 44.3 million)

This component will finance the design and implementation of activities for urban development and improvement of municipal infrastructure in the cities/town of Berat, Gjirokaster, Permet and Saranda.

Investments in these municipalities will include:

Four municipalities participating in this component: Berat, Gjirokastra, Permet and Saranda, although the limited number of citizens, consisting of several thousand, play a key role in accommodation and distribution of tourists along the Southern Albania.

Berat and Gjirokastra have been identified as World Cultural Heritage cities by UNESCO. The same privileged position is held also by the antique site of Butrint, adding another asset to Saranda, a town which consists also of an important entry for tourists in the country, due to its geographical position. Similar is Permet, located within Gjirokastra District, thus enriching furthermore the tourism offers.

Detailed urban studies

An integral part of project preparation was a wide range of consultations carried out with the local government units, central government, institutions responsible for cultural heritage protection and other stakeholder at central and local level. The focus of this phase was the urban assessment of selected sites. This process resulted in identification of areas that will receive support by this project. Interventions are categorized as fast track (to be implemented during the first years of project implementation) and other urban interventions that will be implemented later on, during the project.

Based on findings of this assessment, it was agreed upon that each city participating in the project, will undergo a detailed urban study, which will provide guidelines for further investments appropriate to each city/town, this way avoiding fragmentation and aiming maximal impact.

Diversity of interventions

Projects falling under component 1 will consist of a combination of rehabilitation of existing roads for vehicles and pedestrians to cities and touristic sites, while attention will be given to improvement of recreational areas, such as parks, adaptation of existing structures, roads and pedestrian paths that complete connections to identified destinations of interest.