The first International Forum in Albania for “Smart City” was launched today in Durres. The aim of the forum is to gather and exchange ideas, knowledge, experience and international best practices which will merge with the vision of smart cities for a sustainable development.

Representatives of the Albanian government, ministers of Kosovo and Macedonia and important actors in the relevant fields from Italy, Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany, discussed future initiatives and cooperation for the creation of smart cities.

In his speech, Prime Minister Rama said that the core of efforts to create smart cities is the process of reconstruction of a creative as well as sustainable urban development.

The Prime Minister pointed out that in 20 years the unsustainable development had a negative impact on many aspects of the economic life of the country, and truncated and damaged the authentic sources of sustainable development. “At the core of this process is the restructuring of urban development that is at the same time creative and sustainable. What happened to us in these 20 years is the opposite. Obviously, we have had development but this development was characterized by instability, whose consequences are felt today especially in natural resources, because one of the biggest sources of growth in 20 years has been building, the economy of everyday life and Albanian families in general have benefited through this source of growth, since they now have many more square meters available to live or to carry out various activities; but if we look at the cost of this source growth, we are in front of an extremely shocking picture. How many forests we have lost. How much valuable agricultural land we have lost. How much we have lost from our landscape as an important source of sustainable growth in itself and how much we have lost in all our nation’s ecosystems. Just look at the damage caused to riverbeds by corrosion as a result of an erosive process that, as we can see, appears in the form of flooding, landslides and so on, to understand that we have lost not only time, but we’ve lost an important part of this huge potential. But, we are on time to prevent further slipping into an unsustainable development path and to give sustainability to development.”

The Prime Minister announced that the project for next year’s funding has determined the largest volume ever foreseen for intelligent systems and innovation. He also noted that the voice of the digital infrastructure will be every year the most powerful voice among the voices of public investments. “Of course, we are fortunate to live in a moment in the history of human development where all major gaps inherited from the past between developed and developing countries can be reduced much more quickly than before thanks to innovation, thanks to intelligent systems. This is why in project for next year’s funding we set the largest volume ever made for funding intelligent systems and innovation, considering this piece as part of the investment in infrastructure in general. If you have a great necessity and a huge volume of income, we direct them to the infrastructure of everyday life that enables us movement, communication, physical interaction; the voice of digital infrastructure will be every year more powerful, among voices our public investment. ”

With the belief that improving cities is a process that will be intensified year after year, the Prime Minister said that the re-conceptualization and establishment of a new order of priorities in building this network of investments will bring significant results. “On the other hand I believe that improving cities is a process that has begun this year and will intensify even more the next year and in the years to come, and it is a sure way to give sustainability and cohesion to development, taking into account that we have inherited a system that is like a spoiled spider network in terms of public investment in infrastructure and interconnection of various urban areas and various residential areas and mobility in general in our territory. I am convinced that the re-conceptualization and establishment of a new order of priorities in building this network of investments will bring tangible results” – Prime Minister Rama said.

Among other things, the Prime Minister said that the applicability of laws adopted and the process of interaction remain the biggest challenge. “For the number of conferences, the number of strategies, the number of laws, the number of platforms, for the number of forums, for the number of seminars, workshops, etc., we certainly leave behind a significant number of European Union countries. Undoubtedly, in this regard we are before Germany. It is not laws, that we will certainly do, but it is their enforcement and the process of interaction that are our biggest challenge.”

The forum was attended also by the Secretary General of the Adriatic-Ionic Euro region, Francesco Cocco, who said that for Albania – which this year obtained the status of an EU candidate country – this is the most opportune moment to fight for sustainable and smart development.

Forum’s host, Mayor of Durres Vangjush Dako, brought the new experience on which new projects are being planned in the city of Durres to re-qualify urban spaces. Showing some of the most important projects, he stressed that they are the product of a well-detailed analysis to use public spaces at the maximum. “Today we are implementing many projects that we have in the construction phase. I might mention the re-qualification of the Poplars’ overpass. The reconstruction and recovery of the important bridge underpass at the Dajlani bridge and the central city square. In all projects we have combined technical elements of sustainable design such as greenery, natural stones, as in any other Mediterranean city. For sustainable mobility, we have made ​​the beach road, with 7 km of bike lanes, which is connected to the new road we are building in parallel to the port wall. For environmental protection, we have created a green park on former swamp area, which in the future will become the lungs of the city of Durres. The municipality has been undergoing for some time the process of computerization, which significantly reduces bureaucracy and brings institutions of local government closer to citizens” – Dako said.

While the Italian ambassador to our country, Massimo Giaiani, said the effort to create smart cities is a challenge that relates both to development and to solving various economic and social problems. Urban planning, he said, could lead towards a more structured and efficient development. “I believe this is a step change, a change of culture that proves the interest of the new government on these issues. There is no doubt that besides being the cradle of our civilization, cities will be the place where the development challenge will be played. Albania has an advantage when it comes to support because it has a totally clean production of energy, but I believe that Albania is not immune to problems. The first point that we have to face is that of going to a greater efficiency in energy use. And, at this point Albanian cities can move forward very strongly. I think that the focal point of the entire issue is urban planning that has been totally absent in Albania in the recent years. It can bring a more orderly and efficient development. I am convinced that this topic has the special attention of the government. It would also be possible to use European funds and I believe that this is the way to develop the future of Albania.”