City Profile T i r a n a

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1 City Profile Tirana

2 Introduction The municipality of Tirana is located in the centre of Albania at an elevation of 110 metres. The city is mainly surrounded by hills, with Dajti Mountain in the east and a slight valley opening to the north-west, overlooking the Adriatic Sea in the distance. The city area includes 42 km 2, with its metropolitan area covering around 1,652 km 2. The municipality of Tirana is divided into 11 smaller administrative units referred to as Njësi Bashkiake (municipal units). The Tirana municipality had a population of about 720,000 in Regarding the population projection in Tirana, a medium growth rate is expected. The population will reach figures of 1.1 to 1.3 million in the next 15 to 20 years, which can be attributed to being the national capital and therefore a hub for education, health and business. The General Directorate of Planning and Management of Services is responsible for sustainable policy development and climate policy. This includes transport and mobility planning as well as solid waste management. The city s main polluting sectors are the construction sector, transport sector and the inefficient collection and treatment of solid waste. Concerning overall energy policies, no targets have yet been defined. However, Tirana is willing to focus on developing sustainable solutions in relevant areas. Tirana has not yet signed the Covenant of Mayors or submitted a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The Tirana Regulatory Plan was presented on 18 May 2012 and was approved by the National Council of Territory Adjustment in February The Sustainable Energy Action Plan is scheduled to be prepared and approved afterwards. Energy-Efficient Buildings and Districts Sustainability for the construction sector is planned by using modern construction methods and materials, etc. There are no strategies in this sector as yet. That said, the regulation that will follow the approval of the Urban Regulatory Plan will include measures towards sustainable development of the building sector. Renewable Energy Sources and Distributed Generation The law on integrated waste management was approved in December 2011 and complies with most EU Directives in this field. Article 6 of this law stipulates the prioritisation of waste management policies and contribution to environmental protection through the implementation of the following plans and programmes: March

3 Promotion of waste reduction Promotion of reuse Promotion of recycling Promotion of other resource recovery methods, e.g. recovery of energy Final disposal The municipality of Tirana is preparing the waste management plan based on the above hierarchy along with the enforcement of the law. The worldwide 3Rs activities (reduce, reuse, recycle) will be mainstreamed to implement waste management. In Tirana, there is not yet any energy production system related to waste treatment plants. The Tirana municipality is in the process of granting a concession for the management of urban solid waste and respective treatment areas, and the energy aspect is one of the subjects to be discussed and decided as part of the concession agreement. Energy in Urban Transport The Tirana municipality is still at the learning stage when it comes to energy in urban transport. In 2008, a sustainable transport strategy was adopted, funded through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which should contribute to an overall reduction in pollution in Tirana s transport sector. The key element of the new transport strategy is to move the most polluting means of transport, such as car traffic, out of the city centre by implementing a new external road scheme (outer ring) which makes it possible to move rapidly from one side of the city to the other side without going through it. This will provide more space for public transport (bus lanes), bikes (cycle paths) and people (pedestrian zone) in the centre. This represents an intermodal strategy which combines all aspects related to mobility (private mobility, public transport service, parking and soft mobility [related to non-motorised transport] issues).furthermore, the Tirana municipality has implemented a multi-modal project which aims to increase the bike network and dedicated bus network. A new intermodal terminal will be constructed at the entrance to the city, helping to reduce traffic into town and promoting public transport. The multi-modal terminal will become operational in early Currently, EBRD has financed the undertaking of the feasibility study and preparation of tender documents for a public-private partnership (PPP) project. A new Tirana traffic control centre has been in operation since May 2013, contributing not only to traffic management in the town, but also improving road safety and pollution. The project is financed by EBRD. March

4 Higher standards are demanded from public transport operators regarding their fleet of vehicles. The standards are implemented by the public transport company. Furthermore, a feasibility study will be performed upon the introduction of two new tram lines, North-South and Circular lines, financed by the European Union Pre-Accession Instruments. The French Government is financing the feasibility study for the East West tramline. Additionally, policies on sustainable mobility include the use of cleaner fuel, the introduction and reinforcement of EU-compliant emission standards and vehicle inspection as well as maintenance (e.g. control of emissions for new and in-use vehicles). Financing Projects Multi-modal project Phase 2 Feasibility Study and Tender Documents for Multi-modal Terminal Feasibility Study for East West Tramline Feasibility Study for North South and Circular Tramlines Tirana Traffic Control Centre Financing Source Approx. 500,000 Tirana municipality 500,000 EBRD 500,000 French Government 750,000 Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIPF) 1.5 million EBRD Future Visions and Expectations In order to achieve the three main goals for the development of the transport system in Tirana, four major urban transport objectives are described below along with more specific policies: (1) Enhancement of road network capacity that supports economic activities: to structure a ranked road network to support multi-core, integrated urban sub-centres and to meet the growing travel demand in the future March

5 to increase road capacity by developing and improving the road network to make the most of existing capacity through efficient TCMs (transport control measures) and avoid excessive traffic concentration through TDM (travel demand management) to structure an effective distribution system. (2) Promotion of public transport use: to improve the route structure and level of service of the existing bus transport to introduce new mass transit systems, preferably tram systems to facilitate more effective dedicated bus lanes as a basis for BRT (bus rapid transit) and organise intercity bus terminals to keep the affordable public transport fare under the supervision of one executive body. (3) Intermodal development/transit-oriented development to enhance inter-modality by developing and improving transfer facilities to apply functional transit-oriented development for major public transport corridors with a balanced urban spatial structure. (4) Realisation of an environmentally sound transport system to apply TCMs to reduce air pollution to enhance traffic safety and environment through law enforcement and public campaigns as well as through user-friendly transportation facilities for all travel modes. March

6 Doeppersberg Wuppertal GERMANY City of Tirana Albania CASCADE is an EU-funded project coordinated by EUROCITIES which aims to design and deliver large-scale networking and mutual learning actions on local energy leadership among members of the EUROCITIES network. The CASCADE consortium is composed of: EUROCITIES, Wuppertal Institut, Koucky & Partners and the following cities: Amaroussion, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Burgas, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Gateshead, Genoa, Gijon, Malmo, Mannheim, Milan, Nantes, Stockholm, Sunderland, Tampere, Terrassa, Venice and Warsaw. The CASCADE project is co-financed by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme. The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. March